VENTURA : Deputy Says Drifter Admitted Killing

A Ventura County sheriff’s deputy testified Wednesday that the mentally ill drifter accused of fatally stabbing 90-year-old Velasta Johnson calmly admitted the crime during a discussion with another inmate at the Ventura County Jail.

Deputy Steven Buckley said he heard Kevin Kolodziej, 25, tell another patient in the jail’s medical unit that he was in jail “for killing a 90-year-old lady.”

The inmate seemed surprised and asked if that is what he really did, Buckley said, to which Kolodziej replied, “Yes, I stabbed her in the chest and she died.”

When Kolodziej noticed Buckley listening to the conversation, he quickly added, “That’s what they said I did, but I really didn’t do it,” Buckley said.

Buckley’s testimony, on the second day of the murder trial, came as Deputy Dist. Atty. Peter D. Kossoris began efforts to dissect the guilty by reason of insanity defense that Kolodziej’s public defenders have said they intend to pursue.

Kolodziej’s defense team of Steve P. Lipson and Neil Quinn admit that their client committed the murder, but say the Virginia man was unaware of the crime because he was not taking medication to combat his mental illnesses.

Buckley’s testimony and that of several other witnesses will show that Kolodziej was not only aware of what he did, but that the Ventura slaying took place during a burglary, Kossoris said in opening arguments Tuesday.

If proven that the murder took place during an attempted burglary, Kolodziej could be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Another witness, John Reutcke, testified that he overheard Kolodziej mention an insanity defense at least twice during six telephone conversations that the convicted thief overheard while also incarcerated in the county jail’s medical unit.

Reutcke, who pleaded guilty to grand theft for posing as pop music star Christopher Cross to bilk medical facilities for free care, also said he heard Kolodziej speak with his girlfriend about getting married so they could later have conjugal visits when he goes to prison.