El Cajon

A convicted killer’s family and friends testified Monday in an attempt to persuade a jury not to recommend a death sentence in the murder of Daily Californian reporter Steve Petix.

David Weeding, 40, of Santee, was convicted Nov. 22 of first- degree murder in the 31-year-old reporter’s death on May 20, 1988, and attempted rape of Petix’s wife, Vickie, 24, in their El Cajon apartment.

Petix was stabbed five times as he tried to rescue his wife after he came home for lunch.

Last week, jurors learned that Weeding had served 10 years of a 25-year prison sentence for four rapes committed in 1975 when he was in the Army in Texas.

The first defense witness was Weeding’s parole officer, who told the jury he had “an exemplary record in the institution.”

“I found him very cooperative . . . very polite, very respectful. He complied with all my instructions,” said David Lavine.

Weeding’s former cellmate of eight years, Jimmy Keithley, testified that Weeding helped him in mathematics in prison classes and counseled him when he entered prison at 20 with “a very large chip on my shoulder.”

Keithley said he once was a member of a white supremacy group in prison, but Weeding told him not to “judge a book by its cover.”

The inmate, who said he was in prison for rape and sodomy convictions, said Weeding had “a great impact on my life.”

Weeding’s mother, Alberta, also testified.