Defense Tests Testimony Against Officer

After prosecutors presented testimony by more than 100 people in an attempt to build a circumstantial case of murder against a former California Highway Patrol officer accused of strangling a San Diego college student, defense lawyers have begun trying to chip away at the credibility of key witnesses.

Defense witnesses last week raised questions about the time and circumstances of the woman’s death.

Craig Peyer, a 13-year CHP veteran, is charged with killing 20-year-old Cara Knott, a student at San Diego State University, on Dec. 27, 1986. Prosecutors charge that Knott was pulled over by Peyer between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. and strangled after a struggle on a bridge near Interstate 15 and the Mercy Road off-ramp in San Diego. Her body, which was thrown 65 feet into a dry creek bed, was discovered by police the next morning.

Free on $1-Million Bail

Peyer, 37, is only the second CHP officer ever charged with committing murder while on duty. He was fired in May and is free on $1-million bail. Testimony, which began Jan. 19, is expected to conclude this week.

On Friday, defense attorney Robert Grimes called Wanda Dobbie, a nurse at Palomar Hospital in Escondido.

According to Dobbie’s testimony, Knott could have been killed two hours after the time prosecutors say that she died. Pathologists have been unable to determine the exact time of death, which has been made a major issue by the defense. Grimes has argued that Knott was killed by more than one person late at night, after Peyer was off duty.

Dobbie testified that late on Dec. 27, 1986, she saw a woman matching Knott’s description struggling with three men on the freeway shoulder.

Dobbie said she was driving home from work, southbound on Interstate 15, when at 11:25 p.m.--almost two hours after prosecutors say Knott was killed--she saw the woman standing next to a light-colored Volkswagen Beetle kicking and struggling with one of the men. Dobbie testified that the woman had shoulder-length hair and was wearing a white shirt, dark pants and white footwear.

Knott was driving a white Volkswagen Beetle and was wearing a white sweat shirt, purple sweat pants and white leather boots when she was killed.

According to Dobbie, the incident took place about three miles north of where Knott’s body and car were found on the morning of Dec. 28, 1986.

But two weeks ago, a man and his girlfriend testified for the prosecution that on the night Knott was killed they drove to the darkened Mercy Road area where they saw Knott’s empty car at 9:45 p.m.

Attempt to Establish Pattern

In assembling their case against Peyer, prosecutors attempted to establish that the defendant had a pattern of stopping young women in the isolated area. They called nearly two dozen young women to testify that Peyer pulled them over at night on the isolated Mercy Road off-ramp in 1986. Some of the women said they were stopped for minor traffic violations, including having faulty lights. Others said Peyer stopped them for speeding but ended up giving them less serious citations.

Perhaps the most damaging evidence against Peyer stemmed from a single crusty blood spot found on Knott’s left leather boot and a penny-sized blood spot found near the collar of her blood-soaked sweat shirt.

Using sophisticated tests that check for genetic markers in blood, prosecution experts testified that the blood spots matched Peyer’s blood type.

The tests on the boot revealed that Knott’s killer probably was a member of a blood group that is found in 0.62% of the world’s Caucasian population. Tests on Peyer’s blood showed that he is a member of this group, said the experts.

The tests on the blood spot found on the sweat shirt were less extensive. Nevertheless, the tests revealed that the donor had the same Km and Gm markers as Peyer and matched his Type A blood. Knott’s blood was Type O.

Witnesses also testified that Peyer had scratches on his face the night of Dec. 27, 1986.

Fiber experts called by the prosecution also said that six microscopic fibers tied Peyer to Knott’s murder. Three purple fibers were found on the former CHP officer’s gun and left boot. The experts said that the fibers matched fibers taken from Knott’s purple sweat pants.

Forensic experts also found three microscopic fibers on Knott’s body that they said came from Peyer’s CHP jacket patches. The most distinctive of the three was a gold fiber found on Knott’s sweat shirt. A fiber expert testified that it stood out because it came from a rayon thread that was dyed with seldom used yellow granules that lodge in the fiber’s crevices.