Local News in Brief : Thousand Oaks Man to Stand Trial for Murder
A San Diego municipal judge Thursday ordered a 19-year-old Thousand Oaks man to stand trial for murder in the shooting death of a Westlake Village college student.
Roderick Michael Mathewson had earlier pleaded not guilty to killing Cyrus Lam, also 19.
The body of Lam, a freshman at the University of California, San Diego, was found Feb. 2 in a canyon on the United States International University campus in San Diego. He had been shot four times.
Authorities said Mathewson and Lam, co-workers at a record store near Thousand Oaks, apparently quarreled over a woman.
San Diego police said investigators questioned Mathewson because of evidence found near Lam’s body, including an airline tag bearing Mathewson’s name and address, and because Lam’s 1984 Corvette was found near Mathewson’s home in Thousand Oaks.
Conflicting statements to homicide detectives led to Mathewson’s arrest, San Diego Police Lt. Phil Jarvis said.
Municipal Judge E. Mac Amos Jr. ordered Mathewson, who is being held in San Diego County Jail in lieu of $750,000 bail, to appear in San Diego County Superior Court April 9, when a trial date will be set.
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