Employee Testifies That Murder Suspect Told Him Woman Had Given Him AIDS

A one-time employee of Robert Martin Gray Jr. testified Tuesday in West Orange County Municipal Court that Gray, accused of murdering his former girlfriend, Debbie Ann Lee, once told him that he had contracted AIDS from the woman, who has been missing since Aug. 1.

During questioning in Gray’s preliminary hearing, prosecutor Jeoff Robinson asked the former employee, Robert J. Estrada, whether Gray had ever mentioned acquired immune deficiency syndrome to him and, if so, how he believed he had contracted the deadly disease.

“Yeah, he said through Debbie,” Estrada told Judge Floyd H. Schenk, who must weigh whether there is enough evidence against Gray, a 30-year-old Garden Grove radio store owner, to force him to stand trial in the death of Miss Lee, 24.

Estrada, one of the prosecution’s key witnesses, has told police that Gray was convinced that Miss Lee was a carrier of the virus believed to cause AIDS. Gray has been examined by doctors, who found no evidence that he has been infected with the virus.

Police have a statement from Estrada detailing how he was forced to help Gray dispose of Miss Lee’s body Aug. 1 at a grave site in a remote area of Orange County. When Gray became nervous, he allegedly dumped the body and left Estrada by the roadside. Estrada returned with police a short time later, but the body could not be found, police said.

Gray has pleaded not guilty.

Another prosecution witness told the judge Tuesday that, in addition to Gray and Miss Lee, a third person--identified only as a “blonde named Karen”--was present when the two argued the night Miss Lee disappeared.

The prosecution wants to try Gray on a homicide charge, although no body has been found. On the night of Aug. 1, the prosecution alleges, Gray kidnaped Lee from her home after a violent argument erupted and killed her in a trailer that Gray kept behind his radio store. How Lee died is still a mystery, police said.

When asked in a courthouse corridor to identify who Karen is, Robinson declined, raising the possibility that the woman may have overheard the argument and would be called as a witness if Gray is tried.

In court, Gray’s attorney, Bruce C. Bridgman, urged that Judge Schenk prevent Estrada from testifying. Bridgman attacked Estrada’s credibility, contending that he was an accomplice and should have an attorney present unless granted immediate immunity. Robinson described that argument as “a ploy.”

The judge allowed the testimony after Robinson emphatically denied that Estrada would be prosecuted for any criminal activity related to the case.

Police rejected any suggestion of wrongdoing by Estrada after they learned that Estrada has a low IQ and, by his own admission, cannot read or write, Robinson said.

“He was frightened and caught off guard. He wanted to persuade Gray to cooperate with police, yet also wanted to please him,” Robinson testified.

Earlier, Patricia Gonsalves, a friend of Miss Lee, testified that she had accompanied the missing woman to Gray’s trailer the night she disappeared.

Gonsalves said that both Miss Lee and Gray appeared calm and had a “nice” conversation before Gray followed Lee outside and an argument erupted.

“She followed him back in, and I could hear loud voices inside the trailer,” Gonsalves said. At the time, she said, at least three people were inside the trailer: Gray, Lee and the woman she identified as Karen.

Miss Lee emerged from the trailer “very upset” and had scrapes on her left arm and hip, Gonsalves said. The argument apparently stemmed from a discussion about Miss Lee’s mother, whom Miss Lee had defended as someone “just as good as anyone else,” Gonsalves said.

“She said she wanted to press charges because he had pushed her, cut her arm and she was bleeding,” Gonsalves added.

When Miss Lee arrived home, she called police, but when officers arrived about 2 a.m. her mother, Mary K. Wright, said her daughter was not home.

Only Lee’s purse, her shoe and a note with the telephone number of the Garden Grove Police Department were found, Wright said.

The hearing continues today.