John Steadman Nilsen entered the 99 Cent Store on Beach Boulevard in Huntington Beach on January 29, 2004, and attempted to enter the Employees Only warehouse area. He pointed a gun at the manager and demanded to be taken to the safe where the store money was kept. Nilsen then encountered another employee, Govani Fuentes, and demanded that Fuentes hand over his wallet. Nilsen forced Fuentes to lead him to the front of the store to the safe.
Once at the front, Nilsen turned the gun on Shawna Wolfgram, a 19-year-old female cashier who was in the process of a transaction with a customer, and tried to grab the cash drawer as Wolfgram was handing change to the customer. Wolfgram grabbed the barrel of the gun and pointed it away from the customer, who was with two children, and announced that the defendant was attempting a robbery. Nilsen turned to leave and then shot Wolfgram once in the chest at close range and killed her. He fled the scene and was later linked to the crime through video surveillance and ballistics, DNA evidence at the scene, and eye-witness identification.
Nilsen was convicted of murder during the commission of a robbery and 2nd degree robbery for another victim with enhancements for the personal use of a firearm causing death. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
