Testifies to LSD Use : Self-Defense Claimed by Youth in Stabbing

Charles Kenneth Craig, the 15-year-old Thousand Oaks youth on trial for murder, admitted in testimony Thursday that he stabbed drug dealer Jeffery Anderson, but said he was under the influence of LSD at the time and was acting in self-defense.

Craig, taking the witness stand on the last day of testimony in his Ventura Juvenile Court trial, said he had taken five “hits” of the hallucinogenic drug during the three days before the Feb. 4 stabbing.

The overweight, baby-faced youth frequently used the slang of an experienced drug user as he explained how he was hallucinating the night before the murder and could not sleep. He said he feared for his well-being the morning he went to Anderson’s home because Anderson had earlier accused him of stealing “crank,” which he said was a homemade drug similar to speed.

Murder Charge

Craig, who is 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs 220 pounds, is charged with first-degree murder. Anderson, 21, was on probation for selling marijuana at the time of his death and was a “known drug dealer,” police said.

The murder was the first in Thousand Oaks in seven years.

Judge Lawrence Storch, who is hearing the case without a jury, said he will issue a verdict Wednesday.

Craig is being held in Ventura County Jail without bail. Under state law, he must be tried as a juvenile and, if convicted, could be held by the California Youth Authority only until his 25th birthday.

During most of his 2 1/2 hours of testimony, Craig spoke calmly and matter-of-factly. But he appeared nervous and strained several times.

Craig described himself as a “good customer” of Anderson, estimating he bought marijuana from Anderson 15 times in the year before Feb. 4. The transactions were usually conducted through Anderson’s bedroom window, Craig said. Anderson lived with his parents.

Drug Deal Described

On Feb. 3, Craig testified, he gave Anderson $10 to buy a bag of marijuana. Anderson took the cash but refused to hand over the drug, accusing Craig of “burning him for some crank,” Craig said.

Later that day, Craig said, he took two LSD tablets. He had taken three LSD tablets on Feb. 1, he said.

Craig said that, on the morning of Feb. 4, he went to Anderson’s home again to buy marijuana, this time armed with a butcher knife. “I thought he might hurt me so I brought it along for protection,” he testified.

He said Anderson had fought with other customers.

Inside Anderson’s bedroom, Craig said, he took two bags of marijuana from a shelf and then got into an argument with the dealer over the homemade speed. Craig said Anderson pushed him against a wall and punched him twice in the head.

He said Anderson then retreated to pick up a two-foot long metal pipe. At that point, he stabbed Anderson once in the back with the knife, he said.

Ran From House

Craig said he offered to call a hospital, but then decided he wanted to leave the house quickly. He said he took more marijuana sitting on a shelf, cleaned the knife off and ran from the house.

Craig said he wildly threw the knife behind him. It was later found on the home’s roof.

Earlier testimony in the trial included the dramatic playing of Anderson’s identification of Craig as his assailant, tape-recorded as Anderson lay dying at a nearby hospital.

In other testimony Thursday, Craig’s statement about the pipe was rebutted by a police investigator, who said he found no metal pipe in the bedroom or the house, although a 6- or 7-inch plastic pipe was discovered in the bedroom.

Craig admitted that in conversations with a friend shortly before the stabbing he had said, “wouldn’t that be funny if I burned” Anderson and “killed him.”

Craig Says He Was Joking

But Craig said that he was joking and that he had made similar statements about “killing” several people many times.

Deputy Public Defender Roland Short, who is representing Craig, argued in his closing statement that the comments were “braggadocio” from a “14-year-old boy trying to build himself up.”

Short said that Craig, believing his life was in danger, acted in self-defense when he stabbed Anderson once. For that reason, if Craig was guilty of anything, he was guilty of involuntary manslaughter, not premeditated murder, Short said.

But Deputy Dist. Atty. James S. Irving, in his closing statement, contended that Craig’s comments to friends showed an intent to kill. Craig, Irving said, intended to “rip off Jeffery Anderson from his pot and stab Jeffery Anderson. And that’s exactly what he did.”