A Boston man was convicted Friday of
the 2008 murder of a gay hairstylist, the Boston Globe
reported.
Forty-two-year-old Steven Odegard had
pleaded not guilty to killing 20-year-old Daniel Yakovleff in a
brutal knife attack on January 17, 2008 after a hard night of partying
and sexual relations. Yakovleff was pronounced dead on the scene
after suffering multiple and severe stab wounds from a foot-long
chef's knife.
Prosecutors dismissed Odegard's claims
that a third man, whom he referred to as a “little creepy,” who
was friendly with Yakovleff had accompanied the pair back to
Odegard's third-floor Tuttle Street apartment after meeting at the
Eagle Bar.
While testifying in his own defense,
Odegard said he fell asleep by himself on the couch. The next
morning, Odegard placed the 911 call that brought police to his home
and told them he found Yakovleff in his bed, his body covered in
blood.
Yakovleff, a recent transplant to
Boston, was popular with his clients at the Liquid Hair Studio where
he worked. An overflowing crowd attended a memorial in Ashford,
Connecticut, Yakovleff's hometown, on January 22, 2008.