Student stabbed to death at work by a "customer'who recorded her killing

Brianna Kupfer was attacked by a 31-year-old man who hated women

- GAIL SHORTLAND

There were so many things Brianna Kupfer wanted to achieve in her life and she was only just getting started. The 24-year-old student was one of four children. Her parents Todd and Lori had enjoyed having them all home for Christmas just a few weeks earlier.

At high school Brianna was sporty and captain of the cheerleading team. After graduating, she started to build on her dream of having her own business one day. Having gained a degree in public relations, she enrolled at the University Of California in Los Angeles, where she studied architectural design.

But it wasn’t all work and no play for the ambitious young woman. Brianna had a bucket list of the places she wanted to travel to, a long list of books she wanted to read and even a shortlist of baby names for when she was ready to start a family. Brianna was kind and fun to be around.

On 13 January 2022, Brianna was at work at the Croft House luxury furniture shop in Hancock Park, LA. She was working alone. At 1.36pm, she texted a friend and said she was getting “bad vibes” from a man who had entered the boutique store, but the friend didn’t see the message straightaway.

Twenty minutes later, a customer walked in with her boyfriend and found Brianna on the floor covered in blood. She had been stabbed 46 times – 26 stab wounds and 20 incisions, including 11 stabs to the chest, two in the abdomen, one to the pelvis, two on her right arm, five on her left arm, two on her right leg and three on her left leg. All the stab wounds were said to be about five inches deep, puncturing her lungs. The customer dialled 911 and Brianna was rushed to hospital, but she couldn’t be saved.

Her death sent shockwaves through the community. The police described her attack as a “random act of violence”. It was unthinkable that someone could be murdered in their workplace, in broad daylight.