Death Penalty Won’t Be Sought in Killing

Ventura County prosecutors will not seek the death penalty against Timothy Chrestman, a 19-year-old Port Hueneme man charged with killing a Simi Valley man and his dog in the mountains above Ojai, the district attorney’s office said Thursday.

Chrestman is charged with shooting 24-year-old Andy Lee Anderson and his dog, Sheila, on March 4 to steal the victim’s pickup truck, prosecutors said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael K. Frawley, who is prosecuting Chrestman, would not say why the death penalty is not being sought.

But he said prosecutors are not minimizing Anderson’s death by their decision. “I think . . . he’s a cold-blooded killer,” Frawley said of Chrestman.

Frawley said the decision not to seek the death penalty was made by Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury after an investigation into Chrestman’s background.

Chrestman’s attorneys, Deputy Public Defenders Howard J. Asher and Steven P. Lipson, could not be reached. They met with prosecutors for hours before the penalty decision was made.

Chrestman gave police half a dozen accounts of the March slaying before finally saying that he accidentally shot Anderson as he was about to clean his shotgun.

Chrestman is scheduled to be arraigned in Ventura County Superior Court on Tuesday.