Murder Defendant Described in Court as Jobless Dreamer

The prosecution described a Port Hueneme murder defendant Tuesday as a jobless, pot-smoking dreamer who killed the victim and his dog just to steal his truck.

But the defense attorney for Timothy E. Chrestman called him “a mellow, happy-go-lucky person” with a learning disorder, a hapless pawn saddled with the blame by two unidentified gang members who really murdered Andy Lee Anderson at a Rose Valley campground last spring.

Chrestman, 20, faces murder, robbery and other charges in the March 4 death of Anderson, 24, of Simi Valley.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Bob Calvert told Ventura County Superior Court jurors of two young men on different paths in life that were about to collide.

Up for promotion and engaged to be married, Anderson was a bright young man who liked to fish and loved his truck, Calvert said in opening statements.

That morning, Calvert said, Anderson packed a lunch and fishing gear into his blue Toyota truck. Then he set out with his Australian shepherd dog, Sheila, for a day of fishing at Lions’ Campground in the high country above Ojai, Calvert said.

Chrestman, he said, “was basically an unhappy youth” who had lost his job but lacked the heart to tell his parents.

On Feb. 27, Chrestman’s mother dropped him off at Procter & Gamble Paper Products in Oxnard where he had worked until two weeks earlier, Calvert said.

After she drove out of sight, Chrestman walked to an acquaintance’s trailer, smoked marijuana and talked about plans to work on a Florida fishing boat, Calvert said.

Chrestman stayed there overnight, returning home on March 1. He broke into his family’s locked house and stole a pair of his father’s binoculars that he later pawned, Calvert said.

Spotting Chrestman at an Oxnard pawnshop, family friends alerted his father, who headed off the Florida-bound youth at the bus station and took him home for a serious discussion on his plans for life.

On March 2, Harold Chrestman drove his son--an avid camper--off to Lions’ Campground. He left Timothy Chrestman there with a load of camping gear, food and instructions to rethink his Florida plans, Calvert said.

Father also left son with two guns, said Calvert--a .22-caliber rifle and a 20-gauge shotgun--and enough ammunition to protect himself from wild animals.

At some point on March 4, Chrestman and Anderson met, the prosecutor said.

And at some point, Calvert said, Chrestman shot Anderson to death with a 20-gauge deer slug, then shot through the truck window with his .22, killing Anderson’s dog to cover his tracks.

Chrestman dragged Anderson’s body into brush near a latrine, Calvert said. Then he drove Anderson’s truck to his own campsite, loaded his gear and fled, the prosecutor said.

Desperate to change his life, Chrestman had killed Anderson for his truck, Calvert said.

“He saw the chance to get out, he shot Andy Anderson in the back . . . “ Calvert told jurors. “Then he took off for Hollywood.”

Two days later, Calvert said, Anderson’s truck was found in West Hollywood, Chrestman’s wallet on the driver’s seat.

Defense attorney Steve Pell argued that Chrestman was set up by two Latino gang members--one named Angel or Angelo--who actually shot Anderson.

Pell said Chrestman will testify that he and Anderson smoked marijuana together at the campground and even did a little fishing.

“Then Andy Anderson went back to the campsite for some bait, and at that junction, Timothy Chrestman heard some sounds and ran back to the area and saw that Andy Anderson was shot,” Pell told jurors.

“Timothy Chrestman did what he needed to do to survive,” Pell said. “He was told what to do with the body. He was told what to do with the dog. Timothy Chrestman was kidnaped and robbed, but the evidence will show that he’s the victim all the time.”

The killers drove him to Hollywood and let him out, and “a bum” robbed him of his wallet, shirt and watch as he walked to Malibu, Pell said.

When police took him in for questioning, Calvert argued, Chrestman told wildly conflicting stories.

He first blamed the shooting on two Latino men who forced him to hide the body and ride to Los Angeles in Anderson’s truck. Calvert said Chrestman also told police that he stayed with hippies for several days, that he was robbed of his clothing by a street thug, and that his gun went off accidentally as he cleaned it.

Pell blamed the varying stories on attention-deficit disorder. Never believing police suspected him of murder, Chrestman bounced from idea to idea under police grilling and told them what he thought they wanted to hear, Pell said.

“The evidence will show that Timothy Chrestman may have said a lot of dumb things,” Pell said. “But (he) is not violent.”