Family Sues Murder Suspect and His Parents

Eight months after their son was shot to death, a Simi Valley couple on Wednesday filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the 19-year-old murder defendant and his parents.

The lawsuit, filed in Ventura County Superior Court, charges Harold and Susan Chrestman of Port Hueneme with providing the shotgun that prosecutors say their son used to fatally shoot 24-year-old Andy Lee Anderson at the Middle Lions Campground in the mountains above Ojai.

Timothy Chrestman is charged with shooting Anderson and Anderson’s dog on March 4 and stealing the man’s pickup truck. His murder trial is expected to begin Dec. 27.

Investigators say Chrestman shot Anderson in the back as the victim stood next to his truck preparing to drive home after a half-day fishing trip.

According to the lawsuit, Chrestman’s parents provided him with the gun used to kill Anderson, and Chrestman’s father dropped the defendant off at the campsite.

“Harold Chrestman and Susan Chrestman knew . . . Timothy Chrestman was emotionally unstable, and/or possibly under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol,” alleges the suit, filed by Camarillo attorney Lawrence M. Schulner for Carolyn and Bobby Lee Anderson.

In an interview, Schulner said this is not the first time he has sued in connection with a homicide. His law firm settled a previous Ventura County case with similar circumstances for $100,000, he said. He declined to identify the case.

“I expect to win this one,” Schulner said. “I don’t think young people should be walking around with guns, and I don’t think parents should be giving them guns.”

The Chrestmans could not be reached for comment. But Timothy Chrestman’s attorney, Steve Pell, denied that the parents gave their son the murder weapon.

“It’s been Tim’s gun for a long time,” Pell said of his client.

Pell also said he does not believe the parents are liable for what happened to Anderson and his dog, Sheila, an Australian shepherd.

Information in the lawsuit was based on a grand jury report and other public documents in the case, Schulner said. The suit said that Timothy Chrestman was having emotional problems stemming from drug and alcohol abuse and had planned to leave town.

Chrestman’s father picked him up at a bus station before he could leave for Florida, three days before Anderson’s death, the lawsuit says. The next day, the father convinced his son to spend a couple days at the campground “to think over his desire to go to Florida,” the suit said.

The father then provided Timothy Chrestman with the alleged murder weapon and drove him to the campground, where the shooting later occurred.

Chrestman was arrested after authorities found his wallet in Anderson’s blue truck, which was found abandoned in West Hollywood two days after the shooting.