COUNTYWIDE : Ex-Murder Suspect Seeks $1.25 Million

David W. Sconce, who was accused of poisoning a business rival with oleander before prosecutors dropped the case in March, has filed a claim seeking $1.25 million from Ventura County.

In the claim filed last week, Sconce said he deserves the money as compensation for being held in the County Jail for 178 days longer than he would have been if Ventura County Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury had not filed the murder charge.

Sconce was in custody for unrelated convictions when the murder charge was filed in February, 1990. His prison term expired in October and only the murder charge kept him in jail.

He was accused of using oleander to poison Timothy Waters, who died at his mother’s Camarillo home in 1986.

The alleged motive was to prevent Waters, a Burbank mortician, from disclosing illegalities at Sconce’s crematory in Altadena.

But in March, new tests found no trace of oleander in Waters’ remains, and Bradbury decided to drop the murder charge.

In the claim, Sconce said the case drew intense media attention and caused him and his family great mental anguish. Sconce now lives in Bullhead City, Ariz., according to the claim.

The county has 45 days to act on the claim.

When a government agency is accused of wrongdoing, such claims must be presented before a lawsuit can be filed.