After less than a full day of deliberations, a jury of seven women and five men found the boyfriend of a woman buried alive in the sand three months ago guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

The jurors in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court heard closing arguments Friday morning in the case against 60-year-old transient David Cartwright, beginning deliberations that afternoon and returning a guilty verdict before lunch Monday.

Cartwright faced one felony count of involuntary manslaughter for the May 14 death of Patricia Ann Kalbskopf, 53, his girlfriend of almost three years, in the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area. He will be sentenced Oct. 20, said Deputy District Attorney Matt Kerrigan, who prosecuted the case.

Kerrigan said he wouldn't comment further on Cartwright's conviction because the two other men - Kelly Johnson, 42, and James Proffer, 52 - who have also been charged for Kalbskopf's death have yet to stand trial.

Calls to Cartwright's public defender, Jay Peterson, were not returned by press time.

Johnson and Proffer are also facing single charges of involuntary manslaughter and are expected to stand trial sometime next month, according to the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office.

Prosecutors believe that Cartwright, Proffer and Johnson buried Kalbskopf in about eight inches of sand at the group's campsite after she passed out from drinking. It's not known how long the woman was covered in sand before the men called for help.

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Cartwright told investigators the men buried the victim around 1 p.m., while witnesses at the adjacent campsite testified during his trial that they saw the three men putting sand on a berm - it's believed Kalbskopf was under the berm - around 4 p.m. He also said the burial was Johnson's idea and that it was supposed to be funny.

The men didn't call for medical aid for Kalbskopf until almost 7 p.m. An autopsy revealed she died of asphyxiation as a result of burial in the sand, according to court records.

August 26, 2008