Defendant Testifies He Hated Ex-Wife but Didn’t Kill Her

“Did you kill Anne Jenkins?”

“No.”

“Your witness.”

With that one question, defense attorney Alan May took his seat in the Vista courtroom and let his client, David Scott Harrison, spar with prosecutor Larry Burns in a non-jury trial to determine if Harrison killed his ex-wife, Anne Jenkins, on Feb. 17, 1988, a month after she and her new husband won $727,000 in the state lottery.

Yes, Harrison admitted, he did hate his former wife--as well as her parents and her new husband.

Yes, he did bomb a van owned by the first wife of Anne Jenkins’ second husband.

Yes, he did distribute flyers--including, perhaps, one to Joan Kroc--accusing Anne Jenkins’ father of being a child molester.

Yes, he did harass her family by forging change-of-address and phone-number forms, and, yes, he did buy a magazine advertisement soliciting homosexual lovers for his former father-in-law, Harry Wanket.

Yes, he did read books on how to commit the perfect murder, and, yes, he did try to hide those books, as well as a knife and pipe bomb fixings, in a friend’s house just three days before Anne Jenkins was killed.

David Scott Harrison smiled.

And Larry Burns, pacing back and forth and circling Harrison like a predator, smiled back.

Isn’t it true, Burns asked Harrison, that you lied in court documents relating to your divorce from Anne Jenkins?

“Yes,” Harrison said.

You perjured yourself, Burns told Harrison.

Harrison raised his eyebrows.

Isn’t it true, Burns asked Harrison, that, in a previous federal court trial, you considered displaying a picture of your two children so the jury could see them and maybe sympathize with you?

Burns smiled.

“That’s correct,” Harrison said. He smiled back.

Burns asked Harrison if he was fascinated with murder. Harrison said, yes, he was interested, but fascinated?

Defense attorney May objected to the wording of the question. Burns sat down in the jury box, next to a line of reporters. May sat back down.

Isn’t it true, Burns asked Harrison, that you fraudulently applied the state seal to phony birth certificates for your two children?

Yes, he said. “I lawfully possessed (the embosser).”

Superior Court Judge David B. Moon Jr., who is deciding the case without a jury, did a double-take and looked toward Harrison.

“You believed you lawfully possessed it?” the judge asked.

“It was never stolen,” Harrison said. “It was ordered through a stationery store in San Marcos.”

Isn’t it true, Burns asked, that you had a double-edged knife? Yes, Harrison said. “You didn’t want the police to find you in possession of the knife after Feb. 17, did you?” Burns asked.

“That’s correct,” Harrison answered politely.

Meanwhile, at the attorneys’ table, May was thumbing through the how-to murder books found in Harrison’s duffel bag after the killing. He smiled, leaned over to one of the prosecutor’s investigators, pointed something out to him, and smiled some more. The detective smiled, but only for a moment.

Now it was May’s turn to question Harrison again.

“On or about that time, were you a blithering idiot?”

Harrison looked confused. His eyebrows raised. “No.”

“Who did you think the first person would be that Gary Jenkins (Anne’s husband) would point the finger at?”

“Myself,” Harrison said.

“Do you have to be guilty to think you were a suspect?”

“No.”

May picked up one of the how-to murder books and looked at the judge. “We encourage the court,” May said, smiling, “to read these books. They really are fascinating.” He flipped through the pages and highlighted parts that he particularly liked. Death by bacteria injection, so no one even suspects murder. And, oh, how about mass murder, so a particular motive to kill one of the victims--the real target--can’t easily be identified? May smiled.

May focused back on his client. Are you afraid of a frame job? he asked.

“Yes, very much,” Harrison said.

“Why?”

“Because I didn’t do it.”

“Do you believe innocent people can be convicted of murder?” May asked.

“Completely, now.”

Why didn’t you find any witnesses at your Del Mar Heights condo complex to vouch for your alibi that you were home, pool side, the afternoon of the killing?

“At that time,” Harrison said, “I still had faith in the system. I didn’t think I’d have to go out and build a defense.”

Do you have any remorse over your ex-wife’s death?

“My concern,” he said, “was for my kids and myself. I was concerned I was going to be blamed for it.”

The trial resumes Monday, with Harrison still on the stand.