News Scrapbook 1985

Los Angeles CA (Los Angele; Co) Times · (San Diego Ed.)

San Diego, CA (Son Diego Co.) Evening Tribune (Cir. D. 127,454)

Son Diego, CA (Son Diego Co.) Evening Tribune (Cir. D. 127,454) EB 9

(D. 50,010) (S. 55,573)

985

t1 9 1985 ~-and IsFocus ofHearin~ Ma Accused of Slaying Student, Baby Sitter, Child By ~O~~LLER. Times Staff Writer

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P. C. B F.,1. I 888 Lucas hearing continues Monaay D~vid Allen Lucas' preliminary hear_:ng on three murder charges will contmue Monday before Municipal Judge Wayne L. Peterson. ~ucas_ is charged with murdering Umve~1tyt Diego student Anne Catherme waoke, 22, 00 Nov. 2 0; and Amber Fisher, 3, and her baby sitter Rhonda Strang, 24, 00 Oct. 23. ' . Lucas ~!so is charged with kidnap- pmg, rapmg a~d attempting to mur- der Jody Santiago, a San Diego visi- tor, June 9. She will testify Monday .An East County woman Da~e Gibson, ~estified yesterday that she ~nd a 0 ~•ghbor found Santiago bleed- I mg ~1de a road during an early morning walk. "We saw a woman off to the side of th e road," Gibson said. "She bad her back to us. She eventually turned around. "Her face - the whole upper part of her body - was bloody. She raised her body up and fell back down " Santiago's throat had been sla'shed.

unknown hair and Swanke's, the aried from light to dark, there was an absence of width and colors Defense attorney G. Anthony Gilham, who did not have time to cross-examme Merrill, said after- ward that ht' was not worried about "It could have come from a third of the female population. There was another girl living m the house (with Lucas) And they only found one hair. That truck v. as a mess," Prosecuting attorney Daniel Williams called the former sale~ manager of a car dealership and a Department of Motor Vehicles offi- c1al with their records to show that (similar) length. . tent with Swanke's." It was consis- the hair. Gilham said.

attempted murder of Jody Sant1a- go. 30, of Seattle, who was abduct- cd June 9 in E:J Cajon. Santiago's throat was slashed but she sur- Durmg the fir t day of testimony open to the media, Merritt told Municipal Judge Wayne L. Peter- son that '·hair from two people can be alike" and, therefore, hair sam- pies are better exclusionary e\li• Merritt said he determined that a 12-mch multicolored hair found m the truck did not belong to Lucas or " y opinion was that the hair was s1m1lar and had sirrular charac- teristics to the head hair strands of Mrs. SwanKe. But I could not make the conclusion that there was a common origin," Merritt said. mer described the grizzly scene of the Strang and Fisher Jaymgs. Both were found m the living room of Strang's home with their throats I hed, and Fullm r testified that Stranr showed ign of havmg been choked or uffocated before shed1ed Tne judge denied a request Ly the defense attorney to have all of Fullmer·s testimony stricken Le cause Fullmer did not keep his field notes from the scene after he filed !us report on the in\lest1gation Gilham complained that the Sheriffs Department has delayed m getting him copies of laboratory reports and said the Shenff's De- partment did little to preserve evidence at the scene of the Strang•Fisher slaymgs "If they've got fingerprints, where are they? They can't be ours, or they would have told us," he said after the day of testimony v1ved dence than proof. to his wife, Shannon.

A single strand or hair found in a Toyota pickup truck rcg1stcrl'

Lucas owned a 1984 Toyota p\ckup Nonetheless, he adde~d_,_•_•in_ t_he__ /. Please see LUCAS, ,•1e 8

San Diego, CA (Son Diego Co.I Evening Tribune (Cir. D. 127,4541

B 15 1985

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r11. 1888

Fo~mer partner safs h saw cas with scratches on his face i}._q_Q- By Mile Konon abled vehicle on Parkway Dnve in Trihllllf' Staff Writer La Mesa. David Allen Lucas was seen with He also -1s accused of murdering deep scratch on bis fa e three days Amber Fisher, 3, and her baby sitter, after the disappearance of a woman Rhonda Strang, 24, of Lakeside, on f , od dead later with her throat Oct. 23, and of kidnapping and at- 1ashed, a court has been told. tempting to murder Jody Santiago of The testimony came yesterday Seattle. Her throat was slashed and from Fra William Clark, who was hers ull was fractured June 9.

San Diego, CA (San Diego Co.) Son Diego Union (Cir. D. 217,3241 (Cir. S. 339,788) 1 r

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Scratch on accused kitltr's face 1s told By Mitch Himaka Staff Writer only Santiago survived.

Luca partner in the Carpet Mainte- nao e Co. at 2716 Adams ve. in Nor- mal Heights. Clark told Mumcipal Judge Wayne L. Peterson during a preliminary hearing that Luca did not come to work Nov 20 or 21 and that when he returned Nov 23 "he had bad scratches on the left side of his face." "It was almost like little canals were dug in his face," Clark said. r ucas is c 1arged with murdering l versity of Sao Diego student Anne Cadlenne S anke, 22, who was last seen alive at 1·30 a.m. Nov. 20 carry- mg r. gasoline can toward her dis-

Clark said Lucas was at the Clark home the evening of Nov. 19 and left at 12:30 a.m. Nov. 20. Clark also testified that Lucas talked frequently with Strang, whose brother, Rick Adler, worked for them.. "We went out to her house once with Dave, talked and partied a little bit," Clark said. "She called frequent- ly, wantin to talk to her brother. Sometimes irk cido't want to speak with her, a d she would speak to Dave. omet1mes she called for' Dave."

Frank W. ~lark, who is asking the courts to d1_ssolve his partnership wi t b Lucas m Carpet Maintenance Co., described Lucas' work habits be- tween June 1984 and December as "very inconsistent." He said he some- times _did not see Lucas for days and sometimes weeks at a time. . Clark said Lucas was with him the n!ght of Nov. 19 when Lucas visited him at his Mission Valley home where they drank beer and "partied " snorting crystal methampbetamin~ un_til around 12:30 a.m. Nov. 20 _H~ said Luc_as left in his Toyota four- wheel-dnve truck bearing California pe onalized ·cense plates "CMC INC2," denoting their business. He next saw Lucas Nov. 23, the day after Thanksgiving, with the deep facial wound, Clark testified. Clark said Lucas never really ex- plained his absences. "He was at hom_e most of the time," he said. . Richaz:d Leyva, whcr lives near the mtersection where Swaoke's aban- ~ooed car was found Nov. 20, testi- fied that _a~ut 1:30 a.m. he stopped at a traffic hgbt, intending to make a left turn north on Jackson Drive to go home. ~yva· said be noticed• someone puttrng gasoline in a c r and saw a See LUCAS on p e B-5

.Three days after U.!!!v!,:Sity of San ~iego coed Anne Catberme wanke disappeared, David Allen Lucas was seen :,Vi th a deep scratch down the left side of his face to bis chin his former business partner testified yesterday. At the same hearing, a La Mesan told of returning home during the early morning hours of Nov. 20, when Swanke disappeared, and seeing ~hat he thought were lovers in deep embrace in the La Mesa area where Swanke s car was found later that day. The testimony was elicitea bv dep- ~ty district attorney Daniel T. Wil- liam~ and defense attorney G. Antho- ny G!lham during Lucas' preliminary hearmg before Municipal Court Judge Wayne L. Peterson. Lucas is charged in the murders of Swanke and the Oct. 23 slayings of R_honda Strang, 23, and Amber ~IS?er,. 3, a child Strang was baby- sittmg 10 her Lakeside home. He also is charged in the attempt- ed murder of Jody Santiago, 29, of Seattle, Wash., who was abducted during a visit as she walked from an El Cajon restaurant to her brother's apartment nearby. All victims were found with their throats slashed, and

San Diego, CA (Son Diego Co.) Evening Tribune (Cir. D. 127,454) B

P. C. 8

l-"11. 1888

octor says victims in throat slashings H~A2~imila~ ,.!,~ !!~~! .. Tribune Sufi Writ r instrument and irregularities lndi- A La Mesa doctor who operated 00 eating that the mstrument was used a Seattle woman's la bed throat Ia t more than once. In the cases of Santi- prmg ha testified that her inJuri ago, Swanke and Strang, the cuts

were made at the same spot on the throat, he said, while the child's throat was cut somewhat higher. Geiberger said Strang and Saoti- I hed He said Swanke's body wa • found with a chain around the throat He described Santiago's major in- Jury a a "very deep cut" that "went all the way to.the back of th throat" mt ed key arterle and vems in San- liago's neck but came within milli • F:arher, Santiago tesltfied that she ha been under psychiatric care be- below the cut. Geiberger d the attacker et of her pmal column. m ago showed evidence of vmg been choked before their throats were

people

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1m1lar to th

wer

David Allen Lucas is accused of mur-

Lucas! Scratch on face told _,-

d ring last autumn

The witness, Dr. Charles

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n ry hcarmg for Lucas, 29, on charges of murd mg U tud nt Ann Cath rmc , 22, on N v. 20 and /,mber F her, 3, and her baby. lit r, Rhvn an it of ·n D1 o

Leyva said it was not until he saw

one behind the other.

Continued from B-1

that evenmg

television news

the

Leyva said it 1s hi habit to glance at license plates and recalled that the second vehic e had an unusual one that looked to him like "CNC TNC" or "CMC INC" or "TNC CNC" or "INC CNC" or something with a "As I passed by," Leyva said "something passed through my hea , t like: 'What if it was a kidnapping or something?' " However, he said, he number behind it

about Swanke's disappearance that he called La Mesa police with the Clark also testified that he and Lucas were acquainted with Rhonda Strang through her brother, Rick Adler, who worked for them. Clark the court he and Lucas visited Strang last spring or summer at her home and that she often called to information he had.

second vehicle parked behind the first car. Theo, Leyva said, he glanced over and saw two standing figures. "I thought they were two lovers in an embrace," Leyva said. " . . . I couldn't tell if they were man and woman . . . They were two bodies locked together." He said he couldn't tell if thev were face-to-face, ·back-to-bacK oi-

da Strang, 24, on Oct. 23

Luca also I ch rged with kidnap

the Seattl

pl~g and a aultmg

ntl~go, on June 9.

woman, Jody

G !berger testlft d n Mumcipal that h operat d on Santiago' la hed throat and look d at utop y photo of Swanke, Amber and trang. doctor listed 1m1lan1t of Co11 Th

cause of the attack.

continued on to his home. talk with Adler at work. L,------~-----~~---~-L........J