Scott Dekraai expected to plead guilty in Seal Beach salon shooting

Scott Dekraai, the man accused of killing eight people at a Seal Beach hair salon in 2011, intends to plead guilty to eight counts of special circumstances murder and one count of attempted murder, his lawyer told the court Monday.

The plea does not involve commitments as to the sentencing of Dekraai, who faces the death penalty, Orange County Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals said.

Dekraai is expected to officially enter the plea Friday, the court ruled.

The two-and-a-half-year run-up to the trial -- though significant evidence pointed to Dekraai’s guilt -- has been a source of frustration for victims’ families, some of whom repeatedly urged the court to speed up the pace of the proceedings.

Recently, the trial has been sidetracked as the court examines defense allegations of the improper use of jailhouse informants in Dekraai’s case and others.

Police say Dekraai wanted revenge on his ex-wife, Michelle Fournier, when he walked into Salon Meritage on Oct. 12, 2011, and opened fire. Dekraai, who had been involved in a custody dispute with Fournier, was arrested as he drove away from the scene and shortly thereafter confessed to investigators, according to court records.

He was charged with eight counts of special circumstances murder and one count of attempted murder. The revelation that law enforcement had recorded Dekraai talking to a jailhouse informant in the days after he was arrested -- which prosecutors hoped to use to prove that Dekraai deserved death -- led to an extensive defense investigation of the use of such informants in Orange County jails.

Since mid-March, the court has heard evidence to examine the resulting defense allegations that informants were routinely deployed in violation of the constitutional rights of Dekraai and other defendants and that information frequently was kept from defense attorneys.

During the hearing, the head of the district attorney’s homicide unit acknowledged that evidence has not been disclosed in certain cases, a revelation that could lead to new trials for some convicted criminals.

Last week, prosecutors said they would no longer seek to introduce the recordings of Dekraai and the informant, Fernando Perez, as evidence.

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