Husband Confesses to Killing Wife, Dig for Body Continues

In a notice released this afternoon, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department confirmed that David Viens, 47, confessed while being questioned yesterday to killing his wife, Dawn, who has been considered missing since October 2009. The investigation continues, say the LASD, as does the excavation of the grounds of Viens' Thyme Contemporary Cafe in Lomita, where Dawn Viens' remains are believed to be buried.

Viens was questioned at County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center near Torrance, where he has been hospitalized since he jumped from a cliff in Rancho Palos Verdes last week.

According to the Daily Breeze, David Viens' girlfriend, Kathy Galvan, first learned of the murder and her boyfriend's involvement that day, when the paper published a report indicating that authorities were linking Viens to the case. Lt. Dave Coleman says Galvan confronted Viens then, and "he cracked," and admitted his culpability.

Dawn Viens worked at her husband's restaurant up until her disappearance. The restaurant was remodeled a few weeks later. Today, authorities are "using jackhammers and heavy equipment to excavate the concrete floor," in the hopes of finding the victim's body.
"He did confess to her he committed the murder," Coleman said. "He cracked."