La Mesa Pays $75,000 to Slaying-Case Suspect

The City of La Mesa has agreed to pay $75,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by an El Cajon man who claimed he was incorrectly identified as the key suspect in a killing three years ago.

Jerry Glazebrook, 48, said he lost his self-confidence, his job and the trust of many of his friends when police investigators trailed him, hounded him and tagged him as the most likely candidate to have slipped into June Marilyn George’s home and stab her 78 times in the head, neck, chest and arms.

“I’m really not eloquent enough to express how I feel today,” said Glazebrook, in describing his settlement against La Mesa. “But I do know what it feels like to be considered a murderer.”

Although the $75,000 settlement was announced Thursday, Glazebrook said it cost him $90,000 in attorney’s fees and court costs to bring the lawsuit.

Vindication Claimed

And, despite the city’s refusal to acknowledge that it did anything wrong, Glazebrook nonetheless believes he has been vindicated and that his name is no longer besmirched. In looking back, he said, his life came tumbling down the moment his name emerged as the leading suspect in the killing.

“People who knew me for so many years didn’t want me around,” he said. “I’m single, and women canceled dates when they find out about me. I ceased to go out and meet new friends.

“I lost my job. I’ve had people physically jump when they found out what was going on. A next-door neighbor was aware the police had me under surveillance, but he didn’t tell his wife because she couldn’t handle it.

“My mother had a heart attack as the result of this. And my favorite aunt was never told of all this for a long time, for fear that she would have difficulty with it, too.”

At the time of the August, 1986, slaying, La Mesa police believed they had good cause to consider Glazebrook a suspect. He knew the victim and had been to her home. His ex-wife physically resembled her, and the slaying occurred at a time when Glazebrook was distraught--just days after his ex-wife remarried and he reportedly was breaking up with his girlfriend.

Glazebrook was working then for a knife manufacturing firm in El Cajon. He was in La Mesa on the day of the killing.

Never Charged

Glazebrook was arrested so authorities could take his fingerprints, but he was never charged in the killing. Yet he and his attorney, Tom Adler, said La Mesa police probably still consider him a prime suspect.

Asked about that statement, La Mesa Police Lt. Allen Joslyn said Thursday: “I’m not at liberty to say anything about that.”

“It’s still an active, open case,” the lieutenant added. “We follow up on any leads that are available to us. We are always going over evidence, and we have an outstanding case.”

The attorney representing the City of La Mesa in the case did not return a phone call Thursday.

The George case is one of three unsolved slayings dating back to 1983 in La Mesa, a city that Joslyn said experiences “less than one homicide a year.”

After George was found slain in the kitchen of her Mariposa Street home, Glazebrook said, he attended her funeral in Los Angeles. He also contacted the police, offering his help in any way to catch the assailant.

Focus of Investigation

Unhappily, he said, the focus of the investigation turned on him.

He said he attempted to cooperate. He said he submitted to a lie detector test, which he said he passed. He said he provided fingerprints and blood samples, photographs and a signed statement.

But he said the police wanted a confession, and, when he didn’t oblige, they began trailing him. He said police followed his car, watched his home and harassed his friends. Tired of the invasion of privacy, he took the matter to court.

Adler, his attorney, said that even though the $75,000 settlement does not represent a large monetary award, his client was not looking to get rich.

“It was never really a big money issue with him,” the lawyer said. “That wasn’t what he was interested in. His interest was in clearing his name.”

To that end, Glazebrook said, he feels vindicated. “I wanted to hold them accountable,” he said. “I just lived for the day that I could go public with what happened to me.”