Boy Charged With Murder, Rape Attempt

A 14-year-old Westminster boy was charged Wednesday with the murder and attempted rape of a neighbor woman, but the boy’s attorney said someone else committed the crimes.

The boy told Westminster police investigators that another person was responsible for Monday’s stabbing death of Janice L. McLean, according to defense attorney Gary Proctor.

“That’s something we’re certainly going to investigate,” Proctor said.

The attorney said he did not have enough information to provide further details.

Westminster police have said that they have physical evidence linking the boy to the slaying of the woman, who was attacked by an intruder who crawled through a bedroom window. Mrs. McLean, the 42-year-old mother of two teen-age children, died during surgery at UCI Medical Center.

And Westminster Police Lt. Bob Burnett said there is no evidence so far to suggest that a second person was involved.

Deputy Dist. Atty. John Conley was not available to comment on Proctor’s statement.

During a detention hearing in Orange County Juvenile Court, the boy was charged with murder, attempted rape, burglary with the intent to commit rape, and the use of a deadly weapon, a knife.

A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Feb. 28 to allow time for a psychiatric evaluation of the boy and for laboratory testing of evidence recovered by police. Conley said he could not discuss the evidence because of privacy restrictions imposed on cases involving juveniles.

Conley said the boy will be tried as a juvenile because people younger than 16 cannot be tried as adults under California law, regardless of the severity of the charge.

Judge C. Robert Jameson ordered the boy held at Juvenile Hall until the preliminary hearing.

The teen-ager was brought into the courtroom Wednesday wearing the Juvenile Hall uniform of a blue T-shirt and jeans, his hands cuffed behind his back. When the judge asked the boy if he understood the proceedings, he responded with a quiet “yeah.”

The boy’s parents attended the detention hearing but declined comment.

Proctor said the boy is currently on probation for petty theft, but added that he did not know the circumstances of that crime. The boy is a freshman at La Quinta High School in Westminster.

So far, Westminster police have not found the knife used to kill Mrs. McLean and have not established a motive for the crime, police said.

Times staff writer Matt Lait contributed to this story