A San Fernando man accused of masterminding a 2016 Fullerton triple murder with ties to the “furry community” admitted playing a role in the high-profile slayings shortly after his arrest, telling a detective “I really wish this hadn’t gone down” during a recorded police interrogation shown to jurors last week in an ongoing trial.
Frank Felix, then 25, already had admitted to providing a shotgun and ammunition to his friend Joshua Acosta, and waiting outside a Fullerton residence as Acosta in the early morning hours of Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016 gunned down Jennifer and Christopher Yost, who lived at the home, and Arthur “Billy” Boucher, a friend of the Yosts who happened to be spending the night.
Whether Felix’s role in the slayings rises to the level of special circumstances murder will be up to an Orange County Superior Court jury. Jurors in a Santa Ana courtroom over several days last week watched a video of his interrogation, shortly before the prosecution rested in the case.
The defense — which opted not to give opening statements at the outset of the trial and instead reserved the right to give them at a later time — will begin their case on Tuesday. It isn’t yet clear what Felix’s attorney plans to argue to the jury.
Felix, during the police interview, told detectives that he and Acosta had wanted to “save” Jennifer Yost’s then-17-year-old daughter. He recounted claims of sexual abuse against the teen by her stepfather and verbal and physical abuse by her mother.
As the nearly two hour police interrogation drew to a close, Felix seemed unable to stop talking, asking what degree of murder charge he would face, mentioning legal terms such as “premeditated,” “conspiracy,” “accomplice” and “accessory” and concluding “it is probably going to be a high sentence.”
Through the interrogation, Felix — a self-described machinist who had planned to follow his father’s footsteps into the military but hadn’t lasted in the Air Force due to “mental issues” — started many of his answers with a crisp “Yes sir” or “No sir.”
But as a detective asked him about his family, Felix reflected on the gravity of his situation.
“I just threw it all away,” Felix said. “I always sort of knew we would get caught. I was just waiting for it to happen.”
Senior Deputy District Attorney Seton Hunt at the beginning of the trial described Felix as the mastermind of the murders, telling jurors that Felix had fallen in love with and become obsessed with the Yost’s underage daughter and decided to kill the parents when they ordered him to stay away from the teen.
Acosta — the actual shooter — argued in an earlier trial that he was manipulated by the 17-year-old, who his attorney argued wanted her parents dead. Acosta’s trial ended with a murder conviction and a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
Whether there was any truth to the allegations of sexual, physical and verbal abuse remains unclear. The daughter — as well as Felix and Acosta — have all raised such claims, but with those they accuse of carrying out the abuse dead, prosecutors previously have indicated that there is likely no way authorities will ever know the truth.
Felix, the Yosts and their teenage daughter were all furries, people who role play — and sometimes dress up — as animal characters and take on their personas. All four knew Acosta, who as a “Brony,” a man who is a fan of the “My Little Pony” series.
Felix, in his police interview, described his relationship with the Yost’s teenage daughter as “complicated.” He admitted cutting himself in front of her, but denied that they had a sexual relationship.
Others have testified, however, that the Yosts had ordered Felix to stay away from their daughter and their family. And the daughter during testimony in Acosta’s trial claimed Felix had “blackmailed” her into having sex with him.
Felix’s description of the night of the killings changed throughout the police interview.
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Along with providing the murder weapon and ammunition, Felix ultimately admitted to waiting with the teenage girl outside while Acosta gunned down the occupants of the Yost home. Felix told officers he only heard the final gunshot, when Acosta gunned down a fleeing Christopher Yost just outside a rear door of the residence.
At various times, Felix described the plan as simply helping the teenager run away, to having guns on hand in case the parents fought back, to a faked robbery and kidnapping.
Throughout the interrogation, Felix seemed to place the most blame on Acosta, who at the time was a 21-year-old Army mechanic stationed at Fort Irwin.
Felix claimed to the detectives that Acosta’s father had ties to Los Angeles Police Department leaders and could make any police reports Acosta made against him or his plans “go away,” or have a SWAT team sent to Felix’s house.
“You think he is that powerful,” a detective asked about Acosta.
“I didn’t want to test it,” Felix replied. “I didn’t want to push it. He was just intimidating.”
“He essentially took matters into his own hands,” Felix added about Acosta later in the interview.
After the killings, Felix said he, Acosta and the teenage girl headed to Felix’s parents home in Sun Valley, stopping along the way to pick up some drinks at a 7-Eleven.
The day after, Felix said they burned the clothes Acosta had been wearing in the home, watched the news and went to a church Mass.
“Did you feel better after confession?” A detective asked Felix.
“Not really ma’am,” Felix said. “When I saw it on the news I knew it would lead back to me.”
If convicted of three counts of murder as charged, Felix faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.