Deathbed Interview Helps to Convict Youth, 15, of Murder

A 15-year-old Thousand Oaks youth was convicted Wednesday of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of a man who, in a dramatic deathbed interview, named his attacker.

Charles Kenneth Craig--who had claimed that the killing was in self defense--grimaced when Ventura Juvenile Court Judge Lawrence Storch announced his verdict in the nonjury trial.

The 5-foot, 6-inch, 220-pound, Craig testified that he stabbed Jeffery Anderson, 21, in the back with a kitchen knife on Feb. 4 during an argument over a drug deal because he thought Anderson was about to hit him with a pipe.

Craig admitted that he stole marijuana from the dying man. Storch ruled that, rather than being a case of self defense, the slaying “occurred during the commission of a robbery.”

Deputy Public Defender Roland Short, who represented Craig, said he expects his client to be sent to the California Youth Authority. Storch could order Craig to remain in CYA custody until age 25. Sentencing is set for June 12.

The three-day trial featured the playing of a taped interview with Anderson just before he died at a Thousand Oaks hospital. Anderson twice shouted “Charley Craig” after a detective had asked who stabbed him.

In rebutting the self defense argument, Deputy Ventura County Dist. Atty. James S. Irving cited a portion of the tape in which Anderson was asked why Craig had stabbed him:

“I don’t know! I don’t know!” the dying man shouted.

Irving also cited testimony from a friend of Craig, who said the defendant had boasted that he would rob and kill Anderson.

The Anderson home was a “known source of marijuana” for area youths, police said. Craig testified that he had bought drugs from Anderson several times.