The State - News from July 20, 1988

A former California Highway Patrol officer facing sentencing for killing a college student was described in a probation report as a complex man, prone to both gregariousness and violent rage. Craig Peyer, 38, was convicted last month of murdering the young woman during a 1986 traffic stop. The portrait of Peyer that emerges in the 20-page report is that of a religious, self-righteous man with a history of marital problems and a passion for authority, the San Diego Tribune reported. Since Peyer never took the stand in either of his two San Diego murder trials and has declined to grant interviews, the report by probation officer Marjorie Huntington provided the first in-depth look at his personality. Peyer’s first wife, identified only as “Debra W.,” told Huntington that her ex-husband had a violent temper and once choked her during an argument. She also said that when Peyer joined the CHP in 1974, “he became ‘Mr. Macho.’ It was almost like the badge was a way to flirt.”