OJAI : Man Says He Fired Shots to Save Friend

Two men on trial for robbery and murder in the death of an alleged accomplice listened Tuesday as the man who actually fired the shots said he was only trying to save his friend.

“I saw that John Schommer was about to get his throat slit,” said Billie Joe Gregory, testifying in Ventura County Superior Court. “I didn’t shoot to kill, just enough to get him off John.”

Gregory and Schommer were guests at a New Year’s party in Ojai that was invaded by armed intruders, court documents say. Gregory said he managed to get one of the weapons and fired three times, killing intruder Ron Brown, 22, and wounding Frank Stoddard, 28.

Stoddard and Timothy Antonelli, 24, are on trial for murder, robbery and other charges. Deputy Dist. Atty. Donald C. Glynn has said they are guilty of Brown’s murder because their actions prompted Gregory to shoot. Antonelli is charged with helping to plan the crime, and Stoddard is accused of being one of the ski-masked intruders.

Gregory said he urged the intruders to “lighten up--you know, mellow out.” In response, he said, they hit him on the head and knocked him unconscious.

By the time he regained consciousness, Gregory said, the guests had started to overpower the intruders. He said the host of the party, Scott Blair, was fighting with an armed man. Gregory joined in, ended up with the intruder’s rifle and fired it at Brown, who was holding a knife over Schommer’s neck, Gregory said.

Gregory will resume his testimony today. Stoddard’s attorney, Steven D. Powell, is expected to grill the witness about his drug consumption before the shooting. Prosecutor Glynn has acknowledged that Gregory took LSD 10 hours before the gunfire.

In opening remarks to the jury, Powell called Gregory “a drug-crazed maniac” who should have been charged in the shooting.