Witness Says Hidden ‘Bodies’ Mentioned

An Oceanside woman testified Monday that she heard Alan (Buzzard) Stevens remark, “I’m running out of places to hide the bodies” soon after he allegedly killed a prostitute in 1988.

Lori Ferguson was presented as a witness for the prosecution as the murder trial of Stevens, 48, of San Marcos, winds down in San Diego Superior Court.

Closing arguments are scheduled for today, and the jury could begin deliberations this afternoon.

Stevens is the only suspect who has been charged with murder in the slayings of 43 women, mostly prostitutes, in San Diego County since 1985. Those cases are being investigated by the Metropolitan Homicide Task Force.

He is accused of strangling Cynthia McVey, 26, of Livermore, whose nude, beaten body was found Nov. 29, 1988, at a turnout along Pala Temecula Road near the Pala Indian Reservation.

Authorities have suggested that Stevens could be linked to three other slayings of women whose bodies were found in North County, but he is only charged in McVey’s death.

Ferguson said she talked with Stevens on Nov. 29, 1988, and noted that he looked very tired.

“He told me he hadn’t slept in three days. . . . Then he just seemed to sit there and start talking . . . rambling and almost conversing with himself,” said Ferguson.

Stevens told her he worked for an organization that “took care of snitches” and remarked that he had found “a snitch” at the beach.

“ ‘The girls, the girls. I’m running out of places to hide the bodies,’ ” Ferguson quoted Stevens as saying.

“He showed me how you could put your hands just right on the back of someone’s neck and kill them,” said the witness.

Stevens’ attorney, Milly Durovic, had earlier tried to persuade Judge David Gill not to allow the rebuttal witness to testify about the alleged conversation.

Stevens did not testify.