Trial Begins for Ex-Biker Charged With Murdering Prostitute

The trial in the case of the only man charged in the five-year series of prostitute killings began Wednesday with the prosecutor telling jurors that Alan Michael (Buzzard) Stevens was linked to the strangulation murder of a woman by fingerprints, fibers and an eyewitness.

Stevens, a 48-year-old ex-biker, is charged with the murder of Cynthia McVey, 26, who was last seen alive in a Carlsbad bar. McVey’s beaten body was found nude and hogtied in a remote area on the Pala Indian Reservation on Nov. 29, 1988.

McVey’s killing is one of a string of 43 murders, most of them involving prostitutes, which have plagued the county since 1985.

Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Brian Michaels told the jury in his opening statement that Stevens was responsible for the murder because of overwhelming circumstantial evidence against him.

Michaels told the 10-man, two-woman jury that fingerprints found on McVey belong to Stevens. When McVey was discovered, there was a folded sock in her mouth, held in place by masking tape. Three fingerprints on the tape belonged to Stevens, Michaels said.

Forty fingerprints and three palm prints belonging to McVey also were found on a mirror that was discovered in a San Marcos storage space that Stevens was renting, Michaels said. Also, Michaels said fibers that match carpeting associated with Stevens were found on and near the body of the victim.

Furthermore, an FBI agent will testify that a hair found in Stevens’ van matches McVey’s hair and that the hair “was forcibly removed,” Michaels said.

A witness also testified Wednesday that he saw a man similar to Stevens alongside a van where McVey’s body was discovered several hours later.

Howard Diaz, a resident of the Pala Indian Reservation, said he drove past the place where the body was dumped and observed a man who appeared to be a biker. Diaz said the man was heavy and had many tattoos on his arms.

Stevens, who weighs more than 300 pounds, has tattoos over much of his body, including his hands, arms and face.