Man Gets 26-to-Life for Killing Connected to Drug Operation

A San Diego man was sentenced on Monday to 26 years to life in state prison for a drug-related murder committed almost five years ago in San Marcos.

Michael Edward Smith, 29, was given the term for the July 9, 1986, slaying of Timothy Ridgewell, 24, of La Mesa, whose body was found on a gravel road in San Marcos.

The San Diego Superior Court jury that convicted Smith of first-degree murder on April 1 also acquitted him of first-degree murder in the death of Robert Pharoah III, 26, of Spring Valley.

The jury deadlocked on second-degree murder in Pharoah’s slaying, and on Monday Judge William Howatt scheduled a third trial date for Smith for Friday.

Smith was previously tried for the two murders last fall, along with co-defendant Keith Lugo, 25, formerly of Escondido, but that jury deadlocked over Smith’s role in both deaths.

Lugo was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder Nov. 27, and he is now serving 51 years to life in prison.

Ridgewell’s throat was slashed and his body was found near Pharoah’s, who was shot six times and stabbed three times. Testimony in both trials indicated that the defendants erroneously thought the two victims were “snitches” to police concerning a methamphetamine operation.

Smith is already serving a sentence for manslaughter imposed in another state and Lugo was convicted of methamphetamine charges in 1986 and sentenced to seven years.

Ironically, it was Smith who first notified the Drug Enforcement Administration about information he had about the murders. Smith made a call from a Minnesota jail in November, 1987, after hearing he was being set up to take the blame for the slayings and wanted to give his side of the story to authorities.