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A California student thought she was meeting her ex-boyfriend one last time. Instead, he killed her.

2025-08-29 News & Politics
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48 Hours
48 Hours
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The Salarno Family's Decades-Long Fight Against Convicted Killer Steven Burns's Parole

Discover how Katina Salarno’s family transformed four decades of grief into a powerful movement for victims' rights while fighting 13 parole hearings for her convicted killer, Steven Burns. This story reveals the enduring struggle for justice when a sentence suggests an endpoint but the legal process continues indefinitely.

Short Summary

  • Victims' advocacy efforts led to significant changes in California victim support laws during trials and sentencing.
  • Steven Burns, convicted of second-degree murder, consistently minimized or lied about the circumstances of the 1979 killing in previous parole hearings.
  • The family’s continuous presence at hearings, reaching the 13th in 2025, highlights the emotional toll of protracted post-conviction justice.
  • Burns’s rehabilitation claims were countered by evidence of recent, disturbing controlling behavior reported by a prison educator.

This investigation revisits the 1979 execution-style shooting of 18-year-old Kina Salarno by ex-boyfriend Steven Burns. It tracks the Solano family’s rigorous dedication to victim advocacy—leading to legislative change—and their unavoidable re-traumatization inherent in attending Burns's recurring parole suitability hearings.

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Description

"Post Mortem" host Anne-Marie Green and "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty discuss the 1979 murder of Catina Rose Salarno, who was shot by her ex-boyfriend, Steven Burns, and her family's fight to keep him in prison. #crime #truecrime #48hours True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives. Subscribe to the "48 Hours" YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/48hours Watch full episodes of "48 Hours": https://cbsnews.com/48-hours/full-episodes/ Listen to the "48 Hours" podcast: https://link.chtbl.com/48-Hours Listen to the "My Life of Crime with Erin Moriarty" podcast: https://link.chtbl.com/CBSNewsMLOC Follow "48 Hours" on Instagram: https://instagram.com/48hoursCBS/ Like "48 Hours" on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/48hours Follow "48 Hours" on Twitter: https://twitter.com/48hours Subscribe to our newsletter: https://cbsnews.com/newsletter/ Download the CBS News app: https://cbsnews.com/mobile/ Try Paramount+ free: https://paramountplus.com/?ftag=PPM-05-10aeh8h For video licensing inquiries, contact: [email protected]

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