Man Sentenced To Life In Prison For Killing Man During 2010 Robbery In Fair Oaks

FAIR OAKS (CBS13) - A man convicted in the 2010 killing of a man during a robbery in Fair Oaks has been sentenced to life behind bars.

On December 1, 2021, John Meskell was convicted of first-degree murder for the 2010 slaying of Cristian Anton.

The charges stem from an incident on February 8, 2010, in which Meskell and another suspect, while armed with handguns, forced entry into the home of Cristian Anton and his brother in an attempt to rob them, the Sacramento County DA's Office says.

During the robbery, there was a struggle over a shotgun and Anton was shot and killed. The case went cold until December 2017, when the Sacramento County Sheriff's Cold Case Unit reopened the investigation. Using advanced DNA technology, the zip ties used to tie up the victim were re-analyzed by the District Attorney's Crime Lab and Meskell's DNA was located on one of the zip ties found at the crime scene, the DA's Office says.

Meskell was arrested in January 2020.