Slain Boyfriend Had Wooden Leg : Suspect Calls Killing Self-Defense

A 24-year-old female body builder was in fear for her life when she fired four bullets into her boyfriend, killing the 50-year-old man, the woman’s attorney asserted Thursday.

In his opening statement before a Van Nuys Superior Court jury, Deputy Public Defender Mark Kaiserman said Lee Owens was “a very assaultive type of person when it came to dealing with Melody Kay Runyan.”

Runyan was “very much in fear of Lee Owens and . . . she shot him therefore in self-defense,” Kaiserman told the jury.

Runyan, now 25, is charged with voluntary manslaughter in Owens’ death on June 22, 1984. Owens, a machinist for an automotive shop, was gunned down in the parking lot behind a self-service laundry at Balboa Boulevard and Saticoy Street in Van Nuys.

Victim Unarmed

Although Owens was unarmed at the time of the shooting, Runyan believed she had to act or be killed herself, Kaiserman said outside the courtroom.

However, the prosecution is expected to argue that because Owen had a wooden leg his mobility was restricted and Runyan could not have felt imminent danger.

Owens’ 25-year-old daughter, Brenda, testified Thursday that her father’s wooden right leg, which he had worn since childhood because of a congenital defect, prevented him from running very quickly.

“He did have hard times getting around on it,” Brenda Owens testified. “He could run, but not fast. He couldn’t catch me if I were running from him.”

Romance a ‘Mismatch’

Deputy Dist. Atty. Linda Greenberg said in her opening statement that the relationship, which she earlier had described as a “May-December” romance, was considered by the victims’ family and friends to be a “mismatch” from the start.

“Lee was infatuated with Melody,” Greenberg said. “It was an ego boost for him--a 50-year-old man with a gray beard and an artificial leg. She was a jogger, weight lifter and body builder.”

The relationship became stormy, Greenberg said, and escalated into verbal and physical fights. Runyan moved out of Owens’ house several times, then returned and continued to ask for his help in fixing her car, Greenberg said.

About two weeks before the shooting, Greenberg said, the two got into a fight, resulting in Owens’ arrest and conviction for misdemeanor battery. Runyan sustained bruises and some of her hair had been pulled out, Greenberg said, and Owens reported to work the next day with a black eye.

Began Carrying Gun

A few days later, Greenberg said, Runyan began carrying a gun and told a friend, “ ‘He will never hurt me again.’ ”

The district attorney’s office originally charged Runyan with murder, but two judges have ruled that there was insufficient evidence and reduced the charge to voluntary manslaughter. A murder conviction carries a sentence of 25 years to life in prison, while a voluntary manslaughter conviction carries a maximum of 11 years, plus two years for using a gun.