thedrifter
07-03-09, 07:16 AM
Ex-Marines guilty on all counts in killing of Long Beach man
Posted: 07/02/2009 03:37:38 PM PDT
David Pettigrew
LONG BEACH - It took a jury only a few hours Thursday to find two former Marines guilty of murder in the slaying of a 22-year-old Long Beach man in 2007.
The jury also convicted Trevor Landers, 21, and Anthony "Red" Vigeant, 22, of committing the murder of David Pettigrew in the commission of an attempted robbery and a residential burglary, special circumstance allegations that require a penalty of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The tension between the two sides was palpable throughout the trial, and reached a crescendo at the moment of the verdicts.
Relatives of the victim and the defendants were crying almost as soon as they sat down in the courtroom.
As the first guilty verdict was read, for the count of murder against Landers, the victim's mother, father, sister and girlfriend collapsed against each other, holding one another and sobbing.
Across the aisle Landers' parents, sister and brother also broke down in sobs.
Vigeant's mother had entered the court trembling and as the guilty verdicts were read against Landers she began rocking back and forth and shaking her head, mouthing words at the jury that looked like "please" and "don't."
When the first guilty verdict was read out for her son, she rocked back and looked straight into the air as she gasped silently. She then turned, and her face twisted by anguish, whispered something to the victim's family.
Whether it was an
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expression of anger or sorrow wasn't clear, but one of a dozen Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputies that were in the courtroom stepped forward to block her view of the victim's relatives and friends.
As the jurors walked out of the courtroom she continued to whisper and try to catch their eye.
Emotional outbursts by some relatives in front of the jury in and outside of the courtroom had been a serious issue throughout the trial. Such actions prompted the court to instruct the families to stay at opposite ends of the courthouse hall, well away from jurors as they waited on the benches outside the courtroom every day.
None of the previous moments, however, could match the emotion unleashed on Thursday.
Once the jurors were dismissed and the attorneys began to discuss dates for the sentencing, both the defendants broke down and cried as well.
The cousins, both of whom were assigned to Camp Pendleton at the time of the Sept. 9, 2007 murder, were convicted on all counts.
Police and the prosecutor alleged the pair killed Pettigrew at the apartment where Pettigrew was staying because they had given the former Wilson High School graduate a laptop computer a few weeks earlier in exchange for an ounce of cocaine, but Pettigrew never delivered on the drugs.
The gunman in the murder, former Cpl. Ramon Hernandez, admitted his role in the murder and told police the day of his arrest that he did not know Pettigrew, but he agreed to kill him after his fellow Marines came to him saying Pettigrew ripped them off.
Hernandez, 24, pleaded guilty to all the counts filed against him and the other two defendants earlier this year and testified on behalf of the prosecution in this trial and in Landers' first trial, which ended in a deadlock with the jury voting 10-to-2 in favor of guilt.
Deputy District Attorney Steve Schreiner argued Landers and Vigeant chose Hernandez for the task because they knew his head injuries, received in his second tour of duty in Iraq, were so great that he would be easily manipulated.
Hernandez told the jury that he lost one-third of his brain when a suicide car bomb was detonated near the vehicle he was riding on in Iraq.
He tried to sign up for a third tour but was told he was "too f----- up" and was only allowed to re-enlist and serve in the mechanics division at the Camp Pendleton base.
During his detached and chilling description of the murder, Hernandez also said he knew it was wrong to kill Pettigrew, but the part of him that felt emotions such as empathy, remorse or sorrow was ripped away from him by the shrapnel that tore out a portion of his skull.
The reason he chose to plead guilty and testify, he said, was because the victim and his family "deserve justice."
Jurors in that trial told the Press-Telegram it was one juror who said he believed Landers was guilty of the crime, but that he felt bad for Landers' family and couldn't bring himself to vote guilty, swaying a second juror in the process.
Had the jury reported the misconduct to the court then the juror could have been removed and replaced with an alternate.
Because the issue of misconduct did not come to light until after they declared the deadlock the trial ended in mistrial, paving the way for the current trial that combined both defendants' cases.
Landers and Vigeant are scheduled to return to the Long Beach Superior Court on Aug. 3 for sentencing.
Relatives of the victim and the defendants are expected to address the court at that time.
tracy.manzer@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1261.
Ellie
Posted: 07/02/2009 03:37:38 PM PDT
David Pettigrew
LONG BEACH - It took a jury only a few hours Thursday to find two former Marines guilty of murder in the slaying of a 22-year-old Long Beach man in 2007.
The jury also convicted Trevor Landers, 21, and Anthony "Red" Vigeant, 22, of committing the murder of David Pettigrew in the commission of an attempted robbery and a residential burglary, special circumstance allegations that require a penalty of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The tension between the two sides was palpable throughout the trial, and reached a crescendo at the moment of the verdicts.
Relatives of the victim and the defendants were crying almost as soon as they sat down in the courtroom.
As the first guilty verdict was read, for the count of murder against Landers, the victim's mother, father, sister and girlfriend collapsed against each other, holding one another and sobbing.
Across the aisle Landers' parents, sister and brother also broke down in sobs.
Vigeant's mother had entered the court trembling and as the guilty verdicts were read against Landers she began rocking back and forth and shaking her head, mouthing words at the jury that looked like "please" and "don't."
When the first guilty verdict was read out for her son, she rocked back and looked straight into the air as she gasped silently. She then turned, and her face twisted by anguish, whispered something to the victim's family.
Whether it was an
Advertisement
expression of anger or sorrow wasn't clear, but one of a dozen Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputies that were in the courtroom stepped forward to block her view of the victim's relatives and friends.
As the jurors walked out of the courtroom she continued to whisper and try to catch their eye.
Emotional outbursts by some relatives in front of the jury in and outside of the courtroom had been a serious issue throughout the trial. Such actions prompted the court to instruct the families to stay at opposite ends of the courthouse hall, well away from jurors as they waited on the benches outside the courtroom every day.
None of the previous moments, however, could match the emotion unleashed on Thursday.
Once the jurors were dismissed and the attorneys began to discuss dates for the sentencing, both the defendants broke down and cried as well.
The cousins, both of whom were assigned to Camp Pendleton at the time of the Sept. 9, 2007 murder, were convicted on all counts.
Police and the prosecutor alleged the pair killed Pettigrew at the apartment where Pettigrew was staying because they had given the former Wilson High School graduate a laptop computer a few weeks earlier in exchange for an ounce of cocaine, but Pettigrew never delivered on the drugs.
The gunman in the murder, former Cpl. Ramon Hernandez, admitted his role in the murder and told police the day of his arrest that he did not know Pettigrew, but he agreed to kill him after his fellow Marines came to him saying Pettigrew ripped them off.
Hernandez, 24, pleaded guilty to all the counts filed against him and the other two defendants earlier this year and testified on behalf of the prosecution in this trial and in Landers' first trial, which ended in a deadlock with the jury voting 10-to-2 in favor of guilt.
Deputy District Attorney Steve Schreiner argued Landers and Vigeant chose Hernandez for the task because they knew his head injuries, received in his second tour of duty in Iraq, were so great that he would be easily manipulated.
Hernandez told the jury that he lost one-third of his brain when a suicide car bomb was detonated near the vehicle he was riding on in Iraq.
He tried to sign up for a third tour but was told he was "too f----- up" and was only allowed to re-enlist and serve in the mechanics division at the Camp Pendleton base.
During his detached and chilling description of the murder, Hernandez also said he knew it was wrong to kill Pettigrew, but the part of him that felt emotions such as empathy, remorse or sorrow was ripped away from him by the shrapnel that tore out a portion of his skull.
The reason he chose to plead guilty and testify, he said, was because the victim and his family "deserve justice."
Jurors in that trial told the Press-Telegram it was one juror who said he believed Landers was guilty of the crime, but that he felt bad for Landers' family and couldn't bring himself to vote guilty, swaying a second juror in the process.
Had the jury reported the misconduct to the court then the juror could have been removed and replaced with an alternate.
Because the issue of misconduct did not come to light until after they declared the deadlock the trial ended in mistrial, paving the way for the current trial that combined both defendants' cases.
Landers and Vigeant are scheduled to return to the Long Beach Superior Court on Aug. 3 for sentencing.
Relatives of the victim and the defendants are expected to address the court at that time.
tracy.manzer@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1261.
Ellie