Oxnard Man’s Trial Begins in Landlord Slaying : Courts: Murder suspect Jose Luis Arreguin, 20, faces life in prison without parole if convicted in Port Hueneme killing.

A 20-year-old Oxnard man deserves to spend life in prison without the possibility of parole for the December killing of a Santa Barbara landlord who was counting his money in a parked car, a prosecutor told a jury Wednesday.

But Jose Luis Arreguin’s attorney said his client was duped into becoming involved in the Dec. 1 shooting of Richard Schell, 55.

“He was a last-minute addition to what he thought was a joy ride that turned into a tragedy,” attorney Willard P. Wiksell said as his client’s first-degree murder trial began in Ventura County Superior Court.

“We think he’s technically guilty of some crimes, but he’s not guilty of the special circumstances that would give him life without parole.”

Arreguin is one of four defendants in the slaying. One has pleaded guilty and the other two will be tried later on murder charges.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Donald C. Glynn told the jury Wednesday that Arreguin is guilty of first-degree murder because Arreguin accompanied the others with the intent of robbing Schell.

Glynn said the four young men stalked Schell as he was collecting rent money at buildings he owned in Oxnard and Port Hueneme last Dec. 1. When the landlord parked along B Street in Port Hueneme to organize his receipts, one of the men--George Pena, 19, of Oxnard--waited at his car while the others approached Schell, Glynn said.

Another defendant, Gilbert Martinez, 16, pulled a .45-caliber handgun and tapped the weapon against the driver’s window of Schell’s pickup truck, Glynn said.

When a third suspect, David Lee Soto, 19, began banging on the passenger’s side window, Schell tried to escape by driving forward, the prosecutor said. From behind the truck, Arreguin encouraged Martinez to prevent Schell from driving off, Glynn said.

“Mr. Arreguin yelled to Mr. Martinez: ‘Shoot him, shoot him,’ ” Glynn told jurors. “And that’s exactly what Mr. Martinez did.”

Schell died of a single gunshot wound that penetrated his heart, Chief Medical Examiner Ronald O’Halloran testified. All four suspects were arrested within a week.

Glynn said Martinez’s fingerprint was found on the driver’s door handle of Schell’s Ford Ranger pickup.

Glynn said Pena planned the robbery as early as October, 1992, when he met Schell while visiting his sister, Teresa Marquez. The sister was a tenant of Schell’s and is expected to testify.

Pena, Soto and four others attempted to rob Schell on Nov. 1, but lost him in traffic after he had left one of his buildings, Glynn said. They vowed not to let him get away Dec. 1, the prosecutor told the jury.

Martinez has already been found unfit to be tried as a minor. He and Pena also will face first-degree murder charges at their trials.

Soto pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on the condition that he testify against the others. Soto will be sentenced to 16 years-to-life in prison after the three trials, under an agreement with the district attorney’s office.

Soto, who Glynn said participated in the crime to pay back a $400 debt to Pena, is scheduled to testify today as the trial continues in Judge Charles R. McGrath’s courtroom.

In addition to first-degree murder, Arreguin is charged with attempted robbery and two special allegations that he was armed and that the murder took place during an attempted robbery.