San Diego

A woman Monday identified Billy Ray Waldon as the man who robbed her Dec. 20, the day he allegedly killed a Hillcrest man and eluded a manhunt by 125 police officers.

Julie Meredith, 50, who now lives in Denver, was the first witness in Waldon’s preliminary hearing to have identified him. The hearing began Thursday.

Waldon is accused of killing Gordon Wells, 59, after Waldon blew a tire on his car in an alley during a police chase. He also is accused of killing Dawn Ellermann, 42, and her 13-year-old daughter, Erin. Police allege that Waldon killed the two in their Del Mar Heights home Dec. 7, then set fire to the house to conceal the killings.

Meredith said she was accosted outside her University Heights home by a tall, wiry man wearing a mask that showed only his eyes and nose. The robber grabbed her purse and ran away. It was later recovered in Waldon’s abandoned car with nothing missing from it, she said.

Facing Waldon in court, Meredith said, “I think they’re the same eyes” as those of the gunman.

Waldon is also charged with the Dec. 17 rape of a Pacific Beach woman and another robbery on Dec. 19.

Two other witnesses testified last week about the Del Mar fire, but did not say they had seen Waldon.

A police lineup was conducted Monday, but results were not available. Waldon was discovered several months ago in County Jail after his arrest on a car theft case.