The man responsible for the brutal murder of Angela Kukawski, a business manager with ties to the Kardashian family, was sentenced on Tuesday to 25 years to life in prison. The conviction of Jason Barker, 53, brings some measure of justice to a heinous act that shocked many.
Just two days before Christmas in 2021, Barker committed the unthinkable. He attacked Kukawski, a mother of five, using both a knife and a gun. After the assault, he placed her body in the trunk of her car, driving around before abandoning the vehicle. The crime left a community in mourning and a family devastated.
In a Los Angeles courtroom, Barker appeared emotionless. Shackled and dressed in yellow prison attire, he neither flinched nor showed any sign of remorse as Judge Joseph Brandolino delivered the sentence. The courtroom atmosphere was tense, particularly as Kukawski’s children took the stand.
Two of Kukawski’s children shared their grief and heartbreak, describing the profound loss of their 55-year-old mother. Adam Baker, one of her sons, addressed Barker directly, expressing relief that Barker would spend the rest of his life behind bars. “You robbed the world of a beautiful person,” he lamented, capturing the sorrow of a family forever changed by the tragedy.
This case serves as a poignant reminder of the fragility of life and the irreversible impact of violent crime. Kukawski’s legacy is remembered not only in the business world but also in the hearts of her loved ones who continue to mourn her untimely passing.
‘You robbed the world of a beautiful person.
‘I have thought about this day for a long time…what I would say to you, how I would scream and yell at you. But you are not worth the time.
‘As you languish in (prison) you will be alone. As far as I am concerned, you no longer exist. Goodbye and good riddance.’
Jason Barker, 53, (pictured in 2023) was convicted of murdering girlfriend Angela Kukawski after attacking her with a knife and firearm and stuffing her body into the trunk of her car in 2021
Kukawski served as a business manager to Hollywood stars including the Kardashians, who released a statement mourning her loss at the time
The victim’s eldest daughter, Sarah Baker, called Tuesday’s sentencing ‘bittersweet’ – bitter because she’s still mourning her mother and sweet because Barker would be behind bars for the rest of his life.
Sarah said her mother’s murder was ‘so pointless and unnecessary’ and she noted with sadness that at her upcoming wedding, ‘I’ll have to get married without my mom being there.’
Neighbor and friend Zoe Miller tearfully told the court how Kukawski ‘took me in and became like a second mother to me.
‘I think about her every day. She was my safe place and now she’s gone. Nothing can replace the space the filled in our lives.’
Addressing Barker, Miller added: ‘You stole a mother from her children. You took her from the world. But you will never take the love that she shared with the world.’
When Judge Brandolino asked Barker if he wanted to speak, he hesitated before saying quietly: ‘I just want to say that Angela did not deserve it.
‘I think about it every day. I can’t say how sorry I am. I deserve to live with it for the rest of my life. I am deeply sorry.’
Barker was arrested after the corpse of Kukawski – who also worked for Nicki Minaj and Kanye West – was found in the back of her car a day after she was reported missing.
Barker was arrested after Kukawski was found in the back of her car a day after she was reported missing
He first pleaded not guilty to charges of torture and first degree murder.
But after a pretrial hearing last year resulted in a judge ordering him to stand trial on both, he accepted a deal with prosecutors in which they dropped the torture charge and he changed his plea to no contest on first degree murder with a penalty of life in prison with a minimum sentence of 25 years.
The death penalty was off the table because, according to the LA District Attorney, ‘special circumstances’ – which are required for the DA to seek a death sentence – were not cited when Barker was first charged more than two years ago.
At last year’s preliminary hearing, Kukawski’s daughter, Harmony Castro, told the court that on December 22, 2021, worried because she hadn’t heard from her mother for a few days, she drove to the Sherman Oaks condo Angela shared with Barker.
After letting herself in with her own key, Castro immediately became alarmed when she found a ‘trash can full of bloody tissues’ in the living room, she said.
She also noticed that the door frame to her mother’s bedroom was broken and Angela’s blue Subaru car – usually parked outside the condo – was missing, she added. That’s when she called police.
Kukawski’s co-worker, Dolly Lucero, told the court that she became concerned about Angela when she didn’t show up for work on December 22.
When Kukawski didn’t respond to her phone calls and messages, Lucero texted Barker, who, she said, told her ‘she’s sick and sleeping….I’ll have her call you when she wakes up.’
Kukawski worked for the Kardashians, Kanye West, and rapper Nicki Minaj; pictured in 2017
Angela never called her back.
When Kukawaski was found dead, a Ventura County coroner reported that she had died from sharp and blunt force injuries to the head and neck and strangulation, which they ruled a homicide.
Police said detectives believed that Barker ‘killed Kukawaski – also known as Angela Castro – inside their residence, placed her inside her vehicle, and drove to Simi Valley.’
And prosecutors allege that Barker attacked Kukawski ‘with the intent to cause cruel and extreme pain and suffering for the purpose of revenge, extortion, persuasion and for a sadistic purpose’.
Kukawski – who also helped oversee the estate of the late hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur – worked at Boulevard Management in Woodland Hills, west of LA.
The firm specializes in ‘financial management services to entertainers, athletes and high net-worth individuals.’
