Did Michael Conoscenti Once Help A Murderer Dispose Of A Body?

This week I have taken a few opportunities to ask people who knew murder victim Michael Conoscenti A/K/A Damien Michaels about the man, his life, and his character.  Some interesting stories have come my way, and this one comes from not one but two reliable sources.  Now, I leave it up to you to draw your own conclusions about Mr. Conoscenti and his character, based on some of these assertions.

You see, Damien Michaels was a dreamer, at times a lovable loser, and above all else, a hustler.  Somewhere on his quest to be more than a “nickel and dime” player in this life Michaels met a Los Angeles attorney named David Mahler.  Mahler lived in the Hollywood Hills and liked to live the high life.  Imagine him as the Sean Penn character in Carlito’s way except “much more violent.”  Violence often fueled by a love for cocaine.

The only thing that David Mahler loved more than cocaine was prostitutes.  And, that’s where Damien Michaels came into the picture.  But we’ll come back to that later.

In June 2007 David Mahler was booked for the murder of a woman who was reportedly his girlfriend Kristin “Chrissie” Franya Baldwin.  There is a good article about the early stages of this murder investigation here.  A blurb:

Neighbors told reporters that Mahler is a lawyer who throws lots of loud parties at the multi-level residence. One of those parties occurred about a week ago, and neighbors heard arguing between a man and a woman, according to broadcast reports.

Hollywood police detectives were tipped off by a caller on Friday, Maiberger said.

Police searched the area around the home, but did not find anyone.

The reality however, was that this woman – “Chrissie” – was hardly Mahler’s girlfriend.  She was a girl who was supplied to Mahler by Michael’s in exchange for money or other forms of compensation, such as a Mercedes Benz that Conoscenti was allowed to drive in exchange for providing Mahler with access to porn stars and prostitutes.  Perhaps Mahler believed that Chrissie was his girlfriend, and perhaps he was in love with her.  After all, lonely, rich middle aged men often fall in love with prostitutes.  Especially the good ones.

Apparently as the story goes, sometime went horribly wrong a Mahler shot Chrissie to death in a coke fueled rage.  Now born loser Damien finds himself in an awkward situation.  One of his ’stable’ of prostitutes has been murdered by one of his favorite Johns.  A man that provides him with food, lodging, and a nice car to drive.  Is this the kind of situation a ‘good person’ finds themself in?

About three weeks after the murder, the girl’s body was found in a roadside ditch in Barstow:

LOS ANGELES, June 25, 2007 — The remains of a woman allegedly killed last month by her attorney boyfriend in his Hollywood Hills home were found 120 miles away in a roadside ditch in the desert east of Barstow, officials said Monday.

Her body had been missing until June 16, when two men who stopped near the interchange of Interstates 15 and 40 to help a stranded motorist discovered the remains in a ditch on the road, said Officer Karen Smith.

The next day, Los Angeles detectives were notified by the San Bernardino County coroner’s office, who then handed the remains over to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office for identification.

So here’s where the story gets a little dodgy.  Michaels admitted to my source that he was intimately familiar with where the body was dumped, however would not say or admit directly that he had been involved in transporting it there – apparently wrapped in a carpet.  Michaels claimed that a third man accompanied Mahler to the dump site to rid themselves of the prostitute’s corpse.  Remember, Michaels to my knowledge never admitted having been involved in dumping the body.   However, my other source tells me that after the incident the rumor amongst the circle of people that knew Damien was “that he had helped David dispose of the body.”  Just a rumor…

Michaels was ultimately questioned by the police and is known to have been in fear of being charged in the incident, but the DA never charged him as an accessory to the crime.  In this case, Mahler was the big fish and he was finally convicted in September of the murder.  The LA District Attorney’s site released this statement about the conviction:

LOS ANGELES – A 45-year-old attorney charged with fatally shooting his girlfriend, whose body was later found in the desert, was found guilty today of second-degree murder and assault with a firearm on a second victim.

The jury of seven men and five women deliberated just one day before finding David Mahler guilty of the May 27, 2007 murder of 38-year-old Kristin Baldwin, known as “Chrissie.” The jury also convicted him of assault with a firearm on Donald Van Develde, who was his roommate at the time, and found true the special allegation of personal use of a handgun.

Mahler refused to leave his cell and was not present when the verdict was read.

Deputy District Attorney Bobby Grace with the Major Crimes Division said Mahler and the Los Angeles woman were dating but she was not living at Mahler’s Cole Crest Drive residence in the Hollywood Hills.

Witnesses testified the two were arguing when Mahler shot and killed her. He disposed of the body and tried to cleanup the crime scene. Police were not notified of the shooting until five days later.

And, on October 9th, just 18 days before Damien Michael’s murder, Mahler was finally sentenced to a lengthy prison term:

LOS ANGELES – A civil attorney convicted of the second-degree murder of a woman whose body was dumped in the desert and also shooting at a second victim was sentenced today to 43 years to life in prison.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Wesley also ordered David Mahler, 45, to pay $10,000 in restitution, said Deputy District Attorney Bobby Grace with the Major Crimes Division.

I have gone through the trouble of posting this story to shed some light on the character of Mr. Consoscenti.  I leave it to you to be the judge.  Maybe we’ve all had to occasionally help dispose of the body of a woman that we lured into a life of drugs and prostitution.  I guess it could happen to anyone, right?  And what did the girl’s family have to say about Mahler’s sentencing? From the LA Independent:

“This is my sister, Kristin,” the woman’s older sister, Robin Henson, told Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David S. Wesley, indicating an urn containing the victim’s ashes.

“My family’s life has been completely turned around to a point of pain and suffering because my sister is gone,” Henson said. “A person that can do this needs to go to prison for a very long time … I love my sister and I miss her and I want her back.”

So, who killed Damien Michaels? Seems like plenty of people had reasons.

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• Article Link: CBS 2 Article, ABC 7 Article, LA Independent Article on Sentencing
• Supplemental Link: LA District Attorney Conviction Press Release, DA Sentencing Press Release