Accomplice Issue Raised in Radke Murder Trial

The prosecutor in the murder trial of Mark Radke said Monday that Radke apparently had an accomplice when he allegedly killed a 16-year-old boy in 1988.

In his opening statement before a Superior Court jury, Deputy Dist. Atty. Dan Lamborn said it appears that two people dragged the body of Jeffrey Rudiger through a Scripps Ranch alley, where it was found Jan. 21, 1988.

Radke, 24, of Mira Mesa was arrested several days later after friends of the slain youth told police that he and Radke were to work on a secret project together the night he was killed.

The prosecutor’s statement marked the first time prosecutors have suggested that an accomplice was involved. After the court session, Lamborn refused to elaborate on his statement that one person apparently held the victim’s legs while another held his head. The inference was made as a result of blood spattering found in the area, he said in court.

Rudiger, a junior at Mira Mesa High School, was bludgeoned on the head with a blunt object. He had cuts on his body and was found wearing handcuffs. He was dressed only in his underwear and T-shirt.

Lamborn said the prosecution believes Rudiger was also dragged by a car in the alley at some point.

Radke’s attorney, Douglas Brown, described the murder scene to jurors, saying it appeared that Rudiger was hit 26 times with a tire iron or similar object.

“The evidence is going to show that, whoever did this killing, was thoroughly drenched and soaked in blood,” Brown told jurors, noting that Radke’s parents said they did not notice any blood on him when he returned home the night of the slaying.

Brown said police took footprints at the scene and, when they compared the prints to Radke’s sneakers, they were not his size.

“The killer left sneaker prints at the scene that are not Mark Radke’s. The killer left hair at the scene that’s not Mark Radke’s. Mark Radke didn’t do the killing,” Brown said.

Two bloody knives found at the scene have not been linked to Radke or anyone else, he said, and no fingerprints could be taken off them.

Brown told jurors that Radke knew Rudiger because they worked at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant together in Scripps Ranch.

Prosecutor Lamborn told jurors that a blood spot in Radke’s trunk was type A, the same as Rudiger’s. Two droplets of type A blood were also found under wheel wells of Radke’s car, he said, noting that the defendant had told police he washed his car twice the day after the slaying because it was dirty.

When Radke was arrested, police noticed stains on his jacket that were later found to contain Rudiger’s blood type, Lamborn said.

The defense told jurors that the stains could have been there for years, and that the coat could not have been worn during such a crime without getting more blood on it.

Rudiger’s mother, Susan Marshall, was the first witness. She testified about her growing concern that night when her son failed to come home. She drove to the restaurant at about 11:20 p.m. and found his parked car. Later, she said, she returned and found his wallet in the glove compartment, where he usually kept it.

Marshall said she called hospitals, Juvenile Hall and police in her search, to no avail. The next day, a deputy coroner came to her door.

“I asked if Jeffrey was dead and he said yes,” Marshall said.

Also testifying Monday was Ricardo Cabrera, a landscaper for Coleman Carpets, who found the boy’s body.

The case has been delayed because of rulings against both sides as to what evidence could be admitted. Both the prosecution and the defense appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which eventually let stand a lower court’s ruling allowing admission of evidence against Radke.

The jury and Judge J. Richard Haden visited the Scripps Ranch alley Monday afternoon.

The trial is expected to last at least three weeks. Radke has been free on $300,000 bail that was posted several weeks after his arrest 2 1/2 years ago.