Man Sentenced 26 Years To Life For Crushing Girlfriend's Head With Hammer

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A Sacramento man found guilty of bashing his girlfriend's head repeatedly with a hammer was sentenced Friday in Sacramento County Superior Court to 26 years to life in prison, District Attorney Jan Scully announced.

Donald Fernandes, 36, called a former girlfriend's house in January 2010 and told her that he was at Karen Curtin's house and that Curtin was injured. After he refused to call police, the ex-girlfriend called and asked police to check on the victim.

Police found Curtin, 50, lying on her bed with a severly crushed skull, a sock shoved in her mouth and a plastic bag over her head. Fernandes, a parolee who had recently been released from prison, was still at the house and told police that the victim tried to hit him with a hammer when he took it from her and hit her with it.

Curtin was transported to UC Davis Medical Center where she died three days later. An autopsy revealed that she suffered 10 separate lacerations to the head consistent with being hit in the head with a hammer.