2 Men to Stand Trial in Slaying at ATM : Court: Both face murder charges in the March death of a Lancaster man. Photos from a bank camera are used as evidence.

Two Antelope Valley men were ordered Monday to stand trial on charges of murdering a man during an attempted robbery and carjacking, portions of which were recorded by a surveillance camera at a Lancaster bank.

Antelope Municipal Judge Ian Grant ordered Christopher A. Mann, the alleged gunman, and Wesley D. Harper, who allegedly drove Mann to the bank, held without bail after a two-hour preliminary hearing. They will be arraigned on murder charges June 1 in Lancaster Superior Court.

During Monday’s hearing, a sheriff’s homicide detective testified that Mann admitted during a police interview to shooting Hans Christian Herzog, 44, of Lancaster, but claimed that his gun had discharged accidentally.

In other testimony, Deputy John Haynes said Mann also admitted wearing surgical gloves and placing bullets in his mouth before the shooting to avoid leaving any fingerprints.

The detective testified that Harper told him that he and Mann had been using methamphetamine, a stimulant, before the shooting.

Prosecutors introduced as evidence four photos from bank cameras. One shows a man that prosecutors say is Mann appearing to point a gun at Herzog. The other, taken 12 seconds later, shows the man pulling Herzog from his car onto the ground, prosecutors said.

The preliminary hearing was held after plea-bargain attempts last month failed. Mann had offered to admit guilt and serve substantial prison time.

On Monday, Deputy Public Defender Earl Siddall, Mann’s attorney, said he withdrew the offer earlier this month. But Deputy Dist. Atty. Chesley McKay said his superiors would not have gone along with the deal.

An attorney close to the case said Monday that Mann was willing to accept a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole to avoid the death penalty.

Herzog was found early in the morning of March 5 outside the Bank of America branch on Lancaster Boulevard. He had been shot once in the head and his car had been stolen. Mann, 19, of Palmdale was arrested March 16, and Harper, 22, of Lancaster was arrested two days later.

In testimony Monday, Haynes told the court of Harper’s statement--made during police interviews--that Mann had been looking for someone to rob, and that Harper was to get half of any money they obtained.

Mann told police that he and Harper had driven around Lancaster for several hours that morning looking for victims, Haynes said in court.

According to Haynes, Mann told police that he approached Herzog at the bank’s ATM machine, asked him to light a cigarette and then followed Herzog back to his car with a sawed-off .22-caliber rifle hidden behind his leg. Herzog got into the car, handed Mann a lighter and then Mann pointed the gun at him, Haynes testified.

After the shooting, Harper drove away in a pickup truck and Mann took Herzog’s car, which authorities later recovered from the California Aqueduct, Haynes said in court.

Haynes testified that Mann followed Herzog from the bank ATM even though Mann saw that no money had been withdrawn because he wanted the car.