ALISO VIEJO, Calif. – A Southern California man was charged Sunday in connection to a May 2018 package explosion at a beauty spa that resulted in the death of his ex-girlfriend and injuries of two others.
Stephen William Beal, 59, was charged with one count of malicious destruction of a building resulting in death.
Recommended Videos
The explosion, which occurred May 15, 2018 at Magyar Kozmetica spa, killed the owner, Ildiko Krajnyak, 48.
Beal told investigators that in the months leading up to the incident, Krajnyak revealed to him she had been seeing another man. Investigators believe Krajnyak was Beal's intended target.
Krajnyak, who is a mother, had just returned from visiting family in her native Hungary when she recieved a package at work. According to a criminal complaint, two women who were frquent clients of the spa were present. One of the women told investigators she saw Krajnyak open the box shortly before 1 p.m. and watched it explode.
"Victim #1 saw it explode and recalled being blown backward by the explosion onto the floor," the complaint said. "She also saw flames and smoke."
Krajnyak was killed instantly, according to investigators, and the blast was so powerful that her remains were found outside the building.
"The May 15th Mariblu crime scene was extremely challenging to process. Due to the high intensity of the explosion, evidence was distributed throughout the property and the surrounding area," said FBI Assistant Director Paul Delacourt.
The other two women were injured, authorities said.
FBI agents searched Beal's home in Long Beach, where they said they found bomb-making components that had "no meaningful difference" with the material found at the scene of the explosion. Investigators said they found about 130 pounds of explosive-related materials that Beal said were supplies for contructing model rockets.
Beal was initially arrested and charged with possessing an unregistered destructive device, but charges were dropped after the FBI questioned whether the materials found met the legal definition of "destructive device."
"While the victim had expressed fears about Mr. Beal and he possessed material that could be used to manufacture a bomb, it was forensic evidence collected at the scene, analyzed and pieced together into a coherent whole, that allowed us to file this case," said U.S. Attorney for Central District of California Nick Hanna.