Wis. Man Pleads Not Guilty to Killing Prostitute

A Wisconsin man pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of murdering an Oceanside prostitute and attempting to murder another at his arraignment in Vista.

In asking that 32-year-old Wayne Robert Amundson be held without bail, Deputy Dist. Atty. Mark Pettine described 32-year-old Wayne Robert Amundson as “an extreme danger to women in this county.”

Amundson is charged with murdering 22-year-old Melissa Gene White in December, 1986, and attempting to strangle 30-year-old Deloris Fernandez. Both women were prostitutes working in the same part of Oceanside along Hill Street, said Pettine, a member of the now-defunct San Diego Metropolitan Homicide Task Force.

“The homicide task force views him as a walking case of murder. He’s a predator who preys on smaller and weaker people,” Pettine told the court.

Pettine also said this may be a capital punishment case. The district attorney’s office has not yet determined whether White’s slaying occurred during the commission of a rape, which could bring a capital punishment penalty, Pettine said.

Vista Municipal Court Judge Michael B. Harris decided to hold Amundson in Vista Jail without bail, but a bail review hearing will be held next week.

An acquaintance of Amundson said outside the courtroom that Amundson, who was extradited from Wisconsin on Tuesday, told her that he was not responsible for White’s death or the attempted murder.

“Nobody can convince me that Wayne would do something like that. He’s not the violent type of person at all,” said Peggy West, a Vista resident who said she has known Amundson for 15 years and described herself as a “good friend.”