EAST COUNTY : Woman Testifies to Choking by Porter

A woman testified Tuesday that a man facing murder charges choked her into unconsciousness in May, 1988.

The testimony came on the second day of trial for Ronald Elliot Porter, a 44-year-old auto mechanic from Escondido.

Porter is charged with one count of murder and five counts of attempted murder in a series East County attacks that was investigated by the Metropolitan Homicide Task Force.

The attacks occurred between 1986 and 1988. In 1989, Porter was arrested and sentenced to four years in state prison for attacking a prostitute, Annette Russell, who was also choked after being picked up while hitchhiking.

Maria Weidmark testified Tuesday that she was hitchhiking on Interstate 8 when she was picked up by a man she identified as Porter. After pulling over on the Buckman Springs exit, she testified, he choked her until she lost consciousness.

Weidmark said she attempted to reach for a knife in her purse but could not reach it. When she awoke, the car was gone.

“I was confused for a while,” Weidmark recalled. “I didn’t know whether to hide or to start heading down the highway.”

Weidmark was rescued by two people in a car who heard her screams for help.