Rocklin man guilty of attempted murder

A Placer County Superior Court jury has found a former Sierra College student guilty of attempted murder in a 2009 incident on the Rocklin campus in which another man suffered severe stab wounds to his chest and abdomen.

Paul Thomas Heintz, 23, of Rocklin was also found guilty late Thursday of assault with a deadly weapon, a knife, and the jury determined that special allegations of inflicting great bodily injury and use of a deadly weapon were true.

However, the jury determined that an allegation that Heintz committed the attempted murder willfully, deliberately or with premeditation was untrue.

During the four-day trial this week, evidence was established that Heintz hated his former friend, Alex Abrahamian, 23, because the latter had begun a relationship with a woman that Heintz had dated.

On March 24, 2009, Abrahamian, who was on spring break from Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo, came onto the Sierra College campus to see old friends, including the woman, who was a student there.

Heintz testified during the trial that he observed the two in front of the science building, became upset and later ran after Abrahamian with a knife. He testified that he wanted to hurt Abrahamian but that he had no intention to kill him.

Abrahamian was stabbed five times and suffered major injuries but survived the assault, undergoing three surgeries, according to prosecutor Jeff Wilson of the Placer County District Attorney’s Office. Abrahamian was the first witness to testify in the trial.

Judge Colleen Nichols, who presided over the case, scheduled a Nov. 4 hearing so that a sentencing date for Heintz can be selected.