LOS ANGELES (UPI)A California man has been sentenced to 85 years in federal prison for killing a fellow travel agent who refused to bail him out of a business problem and sell him airline tickets.
Garen Zakarian–a Glendale resident–had been convicted of weapons charges and obstructing interstate commerce by robbery and physical violence in connection with the 1994 killing of Benita Mikailian– a travel agent from another company.
Prosecutors said 32-year-old Zakarian tried to buy airline tickets for 80 Armenian customers from Paris to the United States from Mikailian–but she refused because his agency did not have the funds to pay for the tickets.
Authorities said Zakarian then pumped five shots into Mikailian’s chest and took the receipts for the tickets he had tried to purchase.
The receipts were taken to his customers in Paris–who tried to use them but the airline refused to honor them.
In addition to Zakarian’s prison term–the judge also ordered him to spend five years on supervised release.
