Woman Stabbed to Death on Westside

A 29-year-old Santa Barbara woman was allegedly stabbed to death by her boyfriend early Thursday morning in Santa Barbara’s Westside neighborhood.

Santa Barbara Police, after receiving a call from the suspect himself at approximately 12:38 a.m., responded to the 1300 block of Kowalski Avenue, between Victoria and Sola streets, to find the body of Lisa Marie Zazueta lying in the street, dead from a stab wound to the neck.

Their investigation led them to 1310 Kowalski Ave. – two houses down from where the body was – where they found Garren Musser, 24. At the police station, Musser “provided information to detectives indicating that he was responsible for the homicide,” according to police spokesperson Sgt. Lorenzo Duarte. Musser was arrested for homicide.

Police, who believe the stabbing occurred at the site where her body was found, recovered a knife believed to be used in the killing, and said the killing came as a result of an escalated argument about their relationship. The two had apparently been dating, although the relationship had been short-term, Duarte said. There was no indication how long the two had been dating, and there was no history of violence between the two.

Duarte wouldn’t say whether Musser has a past criminal record.