After 2 1/2 days of deliberations, a jury convicted a man on Oct. 19 of second-degree murder in the stabbing death of a sailor 33 years ago at his Point Loma home in a case solved by DNA.

The 10-man, two-woman jury filed in at 4:15 p.m. on Oct. 19, and a clerk read their finding that Brian Scott Koehl, 52, was guilty of killing Larry Joe Breen, 32, who was a Navy cook aboard the USS Fox CG-33.

Koehl bowed his head, and then turned around and looked at his wife, Elizabeth Koehl, in the audience, who was crying softly. After a minute passed, a sheriff’s deputy told him to turn around and face San Diego Superior Court Judge Kimberlee Lagotta.

Koehl had been free on a $500,000 bond, but Lagotta remanded him to jail immediately after the jury was dismissed without waiting for attorneys to address his custody status.

Sentencing was set for Nov. 17. He faces 15 years to life for the murder plus one year consecutively because the jury found he used a deadly weapon, a knife, in the attack.

“The jury worked really hard and did the right thing,” said Deputy District Attorney Lisa Fox. “I’m so relieved.”

“NCIS and San Diego Police never gave up on this case,” said Fox.

The prosecutor said Breen’s parents are deceased, but he has some sisters and other relatives who are alive and she would be calling them about the verdict.

Fox did not make a motion to immediately remand Koehl into custody, saying “If you’ve been convicted of second-degree murder, you don’t get out on bail.”

Alicia Freeze, Koehl’s attorney, who had argued for acquittal to jurors, said afterward she was surprised at the verdict.

“I’m shocked. I think it was a pretty clear self-defense case,” said Freeze. “My client’s a good guy. He has no record. I think he testified truthfully.”

“I think he was sincere when he testified,” said Freeze.

Freeze said she didn’t ask for her client to remain free on bond because it was clear the judge would remand him to jail.

All jurors left the courthouse immediately and no one stuck around to discuss their verdict. Most of the jurors appeared to be in their 20s, 30s, and 40s.

Jurors did acquit Koehl of first-degree murder on Oct. 19. They turned in a note on Oct. 18, saying they could not reach a unanimous guilty verdict on that charge, and the judge read an instruction that said they could consider second-degree murder or voluntary manslaughter.

Koehl was arrested in July 2022 in Knoxville, Tenn., following a long investigation. He and his wife have three children.

Freeze told jurors he was 19 years old at the time and was a “small-town boy from Ohio” when he arrived in San Diego as a young sailor. Koehl himself said he was flattered when Koehl befriended him by having lunch with him and taking him places.

Koehl said he never perceived that Breen was gay until he woke up and discovered he was orally copulating with him and that he was naked. Koehl said he had been drinking and tried to get up, but Breen pushed him down.

Koehl testified that Breen produced a knife and continued to orally copulate with him against his will, but Koehl overpowered him and grabbed the knife. He said he stabbed him and Breen escaped through a window.

Breen’s jugular vein was severed and the crime scene was very bloody, with Fox telling jurors “Larry Breen left his story behind on those walls.” His bloodied, nude body was found lying next to the backyard fence at the apartment at the corner of Nimitz Boulevard and Locust Street on May 25, 1990.

Koehl said he remembered “that last stab” when Breen stopped fighting him outside. He claimed that Breen “was going to kill me.” His attorney argued he suffered “a traumatic assault, a nightmare.”

Jurors re-heard the testimony of Douglas Jones, who was the best man at Koehl’s wedding, and who testified that Koehl suddenly confessed to killing a man who had made a sexual pass at him years earlier. Jones did not know what state or city the event occurred and testified that Koehl told him he stabbed the man 19 times – something that Koehl disputed when he testified.

The knife Koehl talked about was never found. Breen was in the process of moving into the apartment and had no silverware or furniture in the unit.

Fox told jurors Koehl’s story was “made up” and that “he’s lying to you now.” She noted there was no trash found in the apartment and asked Koehl to describe the knife. He said he couldn’t after 33 years.

The prosecutor mentioned that Koehl weighed 150 pounds and was 5 feet 9 inches tall at age 19 and Breen was 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighed 140 pounds at the time. She mentioned that Koehl had spent 6-7 years in school on wrestling teams.

Koehl accidentally cut himself with the knife and left his blood stains in several places. His blood was saved and a DNA profile was obtained. He testified he washed himself off in the shower, and his bare footprint was also preserved, which later matched his footprint.

Koehl’s DNA was found on the inside of one of Breen’s sock, the inside waistline of Breen’s pants, and his T-shirt, said Fox. Koehl said he had no explanation for that, but he did find Breen’s car keys and drove himself back to his barracks in Coronado that night. He said he drove the car back to Point Loma and left it a mile from where Breen was killed.