Testimony Ends in Chrestman Trial
After four weeks of testimony, both sides rested Tuesday in the trial of a 20-year-old Port Hueneme man accused of fatally shooting a Simi Valley fisherman at Middle Lions Campground near Ojai last year.
On the final day of testimony, a Superior Court jury was told that fingerprints of defendant Timothy Chrestman were found on vehicle-registration papers in the truck of victim Andy Lee Anderson, 24.
The testimony came from Ventura County Sheriff’s Deputy Rick Hamilton, one of the prosecution’s final rebuttal witness.
Anderson and his dog were shot and killed March 4 while on a fishing trip at the campground. When Anderson’s truck was discovered several days later in West Hollywood, Chrestman’s wallet was found in the vehicle.
Chrestman, who has pleaded not guilty to the murder, claimed in court that two Latino males shot the victim. Chrestman has also said that one of the attackers--a man named either Angel or Angelo--then forced him at gunpoint to drive the truck to the Los Angeles area.
Also Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Charles W. Campbell denied a defense motion to introduce the testimony of a Ventura man who has been linked to a car the Chrestman family contends was parked outside their home the day the defendant was arrested.
The Chrestmans believe that whoever was in the car wanted to kill Timothy Chrestman so he could not identify Anderson’s killers.
Campbell ordered closing arguments to begin this morning at 10.
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