San Diego : Nix Testifies at His Murder Trial

William Wayne Nix took the stand in his own defense Wednesday, relating his background with car dealerships and how 17 years ago he met the man whom today he is accused of murdering.

The 38-year-old Nix said he knew Sal Ruscitti when they were both salesmen at a Chino auto dealership and, after leaving Chino to open his own used car lot, they met again in the early 1980s when Nix joined a Kearny Mesa car dealership owned by his father-in-law and mother.

Nix, who became manager of the then-Center City Ford and later owned a dealership in Pomona, is accused of giving one of his mechanics $10,000 in 1988 to hire hit men from Mexico to kill Ruscitti in a gangland-style shooting at his Leucadia home.

Several of Nix’s former associates, many of whom plea-bargained with prosecutors in exchange for their testimony, have already testified that Nix had bragged about arranging Ruscitti’s death after the killing.

Nix continues his testimony today in Vista Superior Court.