ANAHEIM : Manslaughter Plea Ends Slaying Trial

An Anaheim man charged with the second-degree murder of his former roommate pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter Thursday just as closing arguments for his trial were about to begin.

Mark Dennis Matthews, 44, had faced a maximum penalty of 20 years in state prison, but with his plea, he could get up to 12 years in custody for killing John Everett Williams, 33, on Aug. 23, 1990, outside a drug-rehabilitation center in Stanton.

“He had a good chance at a favorable verdict,” said Creighton Laz, Matthews’ attorney, who was apparently disappointed by his client’s decision. But, Laz said, “the plea was strongly affected by the risk of (being found guilty of) second-degree murder, and he didn’t want to take that risk.”

According to testimony in Superior Court in Newport Beach, Matthews and Williams had been arguing for a few minutes when Matthews pulled out a pocketknife with a 3-inch blade and stabbed Williams once in the heart.

The motive for the fight was not established during the trial, but one witness testified the altercation arose when Matthews refused to give Williams a ride in his car.

Authorities said the two men were roommates for a few weeks, and Matthews periodically drove Williams to the Western Pacific Stanton Medical Clinic for methadone treatment. Methadone is a synthetic drug used to treat heroin addicts.

Matthews’ plea was “a proper and appropriate disposition,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Bernadette Cemore, the prosecutor. “There was an argument and a fight, and Mark Matthews was as much an aggressor as John Williams.”