A woman whose former boyfriend — a white supremacist gang member — stabbed an Iranian American man to death in 2015 following an argument at a Laguna Niguel bar pleaded guilty on Monday, Dec. 9 to being an accessory after the fact.
Craig Matthew Tanber, right, sits superior court with his attorney, Alisha Montoro, left, of the Orange County Public Defender’s Office, during opening statements on Wednesday, November 20, 2019, at Harbor Justice Center Newport Beach in Newport Beach. Tanber is accused of stabbing another patron to death at Patsy’s Irish Pub in Laguna Niguel on Labor Day weekend in 2015. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
More than nine years after the fatal Labor Day Weekend confrontation between Craig Matthew Tanber and Shayan Mazroei at Patsy’s Irish Pub, Elizabeth Anne Thornburg — Tanber’s then-girlfriend — was sentenced to 200 hours of community service and two years probation in exchange for admitting to the single felony count, court records show.
If possible, Thornburg was directed to serve her community service focused on racial sensitivity, according to court records.
An argument between Thornburg and Mazroei is suspected to have sparked the fatal fight involving her then-boyfriend, and the accessory charge was based on her allegedly helping him flee from the bar in the aftermath of the killing.
Mazroei’s family in statement released after Monday’s hearing wrote Thurnburg’s plea meant they are “Closing a ten-year tragic chapter in our journey to get justice for the senseless murder of our only son.”
But the family raised concern at the possibility that upon completing her community service and probation, Thornburg could seek to lower the charge to a misdemeanor or have it expunged.
“While we accept this outcome from the court, it is concerning to us as she is the person who not only instigated the incident that led to our son’s murder but also drove the killer away from the crime scene, and they proceeded to attend (gatherings) on the same evening after Shayan was stabbed,” the family wrote. “In the past, she has shown no remorse for her actions. We remain concerned about her being a danger to the public safety of others in the community.”
“Nothing will ever bring Shayan back or erase the harm done to our family,” they added. “But with this development, we hope to put this tragedy to rest.”
During Tanber’s trial, the prosecution alleged that the bar argument had started when Thornburg made derogatory comments about Mazroei’s Middle Eastern heritage. The defense countered that it was Mazroei who was rude to Thornburg after she asked him his name to determine how many people were between them on a pool table sign-up sheet.
Both sides agreed the argument continued when Mazroei and Thornburg stepped outside the bar to smoke while Tanber used a restroom. Thornburg spit on Mazroei several times, both sides agreed during the trial, and Mazroei responded by spitting on Thornburg once. The defense also alleged that Mazroei threw a lit cigarette at Thornburg.
Thornburg chased Mazroei out of the bar as Tanber exited the restroom, both sides agreed, and Mazroei responded by convincing a bouncer he knew to kick Tanber and Thornburg out of the bar.
Other patrons and the bouncer later testified to seeing an enraged Tanber rant outside the bar, including uttering a series of racial epithets and referring to having a knife, to stabbing someone and to being disrespected by Mazroei. When the bouncer walked away, witnesses said Tanber opened a bar door, motioned to Mazroei and yelled “You!”
Surveillance video showed Tanber punching Mazroei in the face as he walked out the bar door. Mazroei appeared to be briefly knocked back, then moved toward Tanber before suddenly stepping back into the bar and collapsing to the ground. Prosecutors allege that Tanber had stabbed Mazroei directly in the heart and then a second time in the back.
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Tanber’s attorney didn’t deny that Tanber initially punched Mazroei or that he stabbed him, but contended that between the two acts Mazroei had struck Tanber, causing Tanber to react in self-defense.
Prosecutors previously alleged that Thornburg picked Tanber up around the corner from the bar, then dropped him off at a residence in Mission Viejo. Police found Tanber several days later at a Garden Grove motel.
At the time he killed Mazroei, Tanber had only been out of prison for three months. He had been serving time behind bars for his role in the slaying of a man who stole money from the former girlfriend of another white supremacist gang member.
Tanber, convicted of second-degree murder for Mazroei’s death, was sentenced in 2020 to 56 years to life in prison.
Despite pressure from groups such as the National Iranian American Council, prosecutors opted not to charge Tanber with a hate crime, determining there was enough evidence to warrant such an allegation.