A San Fernando Valley man accused of masterminding the high-profile triple killings of a Fullerton man and woman he met in the “furry community” and a friend of the couple after becoming “obsessed” with their teenage daughter was convicted of murder Tuesday.
An Orange County Superior Court jury deliberated for around 45 minutes before finding Frank Felix guilty of the special circumstances murders of Jennifer Yost, Christopher Yost and Arthur “Billy” Boucher. All three were gunned down with a shotgun while sleeping in the early-morning hours of Sept. 24, 2016 at the Yosts’ Fullerton home.
Felix, then 25, admitted providing the actual gunman – then-21-year-old Joshua Acosta – with a shotgun and ammunition and waiting outside the Fullerton home with the Yost’s then-17-year-old daughter while Acosta killed the couple and Boucher, who was spending the night at the home. Boucher was killed while he slept on a couch, Jennifer Yost while she slept in her bed and Christopher Yost after he awoke and attempted to escape the home.
Felix, the Yosts and their teenage daughter were all part of the furry community, comprised of people who role play and sometimes dress up as animal characters and take on their personas as they congregate online and at conventions. Acosta – at the time an Army mechanic – was a “Brony,” a man who is a fan of the “My Little Pony” series.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Seton Hunt argued that Felix masterminded the killings, driven by an obsession he had for the 17-year-old daughter whom the Yosts had ordered him to stay away from. At one point shortly before the killings, Felix wrote to the teenager, “You are the only one and thing that makes me happy.”
“He wanted to live happily ever after without any parental interference,” the prosecutor told jurors.
The daughter – who testified during an earlier trial but did not take the stand in Felix’s trial – claimed that her stepfather, Christopher Yost, sexually abused her and her mother, Jennifer Yost, verbally and physically abused her. Both Felix and Acosta told police after the killings that they were trying to “save” the daughter from her parents.
But with the parents dead and unable to defend themselves against the accusations, authorities previously have said it likely will never be known if there is any truth to the allegations of abuse.
What, if anything, the daughter knew of the plan to kill her parents is also unclear. She alleged in testimony in a previous trial that Felix had “blackmailed” her into having sex with him. She also admitted letting Acosta into the home just before the killings began.
Felix’s attorney, David Paulson, told jurors during his closing arguments that Felix only intended to help the 17-year-old “escape” her mother and stepfather.
Paulson argued that it was Acosta who wanted the weapon and ammunition for self-protection in case the mother or stepfather tried to stop him.
“He thought it was for protection, not for murder,” Paulson said.
It wasn’t until later, the defense attorney told jurors, that Felix realized Acosta’s plan to kill the parents.
“The plan was formulated after Mr. Acosta received the gun from Mr. Felix,” Paulson said. “He fooled everyone.”
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“He got what he wanted,” the defense attorney added of Acosta. “Then he became what he truly is.”
But the prosecutor noted that days before the killings, Felix wrote to a friend “I might be assisting someone with murder,” then claimed he was just talking about an animal when the other person told him not to do it.
The Yosts’ two younger children were asleep and not harmed during the shootings, but awoke to find their parents dead. Officers quickly realized the older daughter was missing and through her phone records identified Acosta as a suspect.
Authorities at Fort Irwin, where Acosta was stationed, detained and searched Acosta and found three shotgun shells in one of his pockets. One shell, the prosecutor noted during the trial, for each victim.
In a police interview shortly after his own arrest, Felix admitted buying ammunition, ear protection and a bolt cutter to cut a security lock off his father’s shotgun, which he gave to Acosta.
Felix described being afraid of Acosta, and claimed he only heard the final gunshot. He acknowledged that the daughter had told him earlier that night that Boucher was staying at the home, explaining to police, “So I already knew there was going to be a third body.”
“As evil as it was to kill two, he could have turned around and said ‘Let’s do it a different night,’” the prosecutor told jurors about Felix. “In his mind, three people are going to die that night.”
After the killing, Felix told police that he, Acosta and the daughter drove to Felix’s parents’ home in Sun Valley. Another friend – who didn’t know what had happened – picked the daughter up.
Acosta, in his own police interview, was even more explicit about his feelings regarding the Yost family, referring to them as a “festering wound” that he had “cauterized,” and describing Boucher as “collateral damage.”
In an earlier trial, Acosta’s defense attorney argued that it was the teenage daughter who wanted her parents dead and alleged she manipulated Acosta into carrying out the killings. Acosta was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Felix is scheduled to return to court for sentencing on Jan. 17, when he will also face up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.