THOUSAND OAKS : Defendant Tries to Strike Photographer

A man accused of killing a Thousand Oaks woman tried to attack a news photographer who was covering the trial Monday in Ventura County Superior Court.

With the jury watching, Timothy J. Velasco, 22, bolted toward News Chronicle photographer Roger Brady, who was seated in the front row of spectators. Velasco knocked aside a woman who had just testified and threw a punch at Brady, which missed.

As he was subdued by Deputy Mark Hines and Bailiff Cathy Mendez of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, Velasco yelled: “He tried to take my picture. This isn’t funny.”

No one was hurt in the incident. When the trial resumed after a brief recess, Velasco was in leg irons.

Deputy Public Defender William McGuffey said Velasco thought the photographer was laughing at him. Judge Steven Z. Perren said he saw nothing objectionable in Brady’s demeanor. Perren refused McGuffey’s request for a mistrial and instructed the jury to ignore the outburst.

In her opening statement, Deputy Dist. Atty. Carol J. Nelson said the killing of Ellen Cleary was premeditated--a necessary element for first-degree murder.

Nelson said Velasco was calm after finding Cleary in bed with another man at her home, and then had sex with Cleary after the man had left. Velasco is accused of stabbing Cleary in the neck, strangling her and tying plastic bags around her face. The medical examiner concluded that Cleary had died of strangulation.

McGuffey told the jury that although about an hour had passed between Velasco’s arrival and the slaying, the crime still occurred in the heat of passion. At the most, he said, Velasco is guilty of voluntary manslaughter.