Man to Stand Trial in Shooting of His Neighbor : Death: Scott James Craft will be tried for the July 23 attack on Neighborhood Watch captain Keith Brown.

A Winnetka man who allegedly shot to death the husband of a Neighborhood Watch captain was ordered Thursday to stand trial for murder.

Van Nuys Municipal Judge Jessica Perrin Silvers ordered Scott James Craft, 33, to stand trial on a charge of murdering Keith Brown, 42.

In what is believed to be the first such killing in the history of Neighborhood Watch, Brown was shot three times in the back on July 23. He and his wife had attempted to write down Craft’s address to give to police after a woman complained that he had shouted profanities at her and her grandson.

In a surprising turn, a neighbor testified Thursday that Brown actually had been armed with a .38 caliber pistol during part of the confrontation, but never drew his weapon and was not armed when he was shot.

Thursday’s witnesses gave the fullest picture yet of the tangled events that led to the face-off between Brown and Craft. Several neighbors and friends of the Brown family attended the hearing, either to testify or to lend support to Brown’s widow.

Jennie Campbell testified that she and her 4-year-old grandson were taking a walk on the evening of July 23 when they passed the Craft house. The driveway had apparently just been resurfaced and cones and boards were arranged in front of it.

“A voice yelled out, ‘get that stick out of my driveway!” Campbell testified.

Campbell and her grandson had found a “walking stick,” and the boy was “either dragging it or walking with it,” she said. “I yelled out, ‘you don’t have to yell at him like that,” Campbell said.

During the exchange, Craft shouted profanities and ordered her to “get the hell out of here,” she said.

Campbell said she then walked to Brown’s house and told her what had happened and together the two walked to the nearby home of another Neighborhood Watch captain, Robyn Molle. The three decided that they would report the incident to their community police officer the next day.

“I didn’t feel like I’d get a response if I just called [police] out for yelling,” Brown’s wife, Kathy, testified.

When she, her 5-year-old son and her husband walked down to the Craft house to get the address, Craft again shouted profanities, Kathy Brown testified. “He screamed at the top of his lungs,” she said.

“I realized at that point this guy was crazy,” Kathy Brown said, and she “took off down the street, dragging my 5-year-old.”

Keith Brown stayed behind, and an argument between the two escalated with both men exchanging heated words. Craft, standing in his driveway, ordered Brown not to kick over the cones. Brown, on the sidewalk, told Craft to come outside if he had a problem.

Neighbor Jon Wunderlin testified that he went to Brown’s aid at Kathy Brown’s request. Wunderlin said he tried to separate the men, at one point physically pushing them apart.

“I continued to try to get Keith to leave because I knew Scott had a gun and he never took his hand off it,” Wunderlin said, referring to a gun that he said was visible in Craft’s waistband. Wunderlin said he knew that Brown also had a gun, because Kathy Brown had warned him of that possibility, and he saw the gun in Brown’s pocket, wrapped in a towel.

Kathy Brown testified that she was standing in front of her yard a few doors down, calling 911 when her husband was shot in the back.

“I watched him shoot Keith,” she said.

Under cross examination, Brown testified that she didn’t know if the cartridge fired was a blank or real.

“All I know was my husband was shot,” she said. “He was hit with something.”

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Later defense attorney Michael M. Duffey referred to the shot as a blank and called it a “warning shot.”

After realizing that Brown appeared to be unharmed, Wunderlin reached into Brown’s pocket and took his gun, which was wrapped in a towel.

“I ran into [Brown’s] house, ran into their bedroom and put it under the mattress,” he said.

After the first shot, Brown turned and again confronted Craft. Three witnesses testified that they saw Brown walking up the driveway toward Craft and his father, carrying a two-by-four.

All three testified that he dropped the board before Craft began firing again.

“I saw three flashes and I heard three pops and I saw Keith fall to the ground,” Charles Carter testified, his voice breaking. “He fell in the middle of the driveway.”

Shortly after the incident Craft called the shooting self-defense. A witness testified that after the shooting, when asked why he did it, Craft said he was using the drug Prozac. Relatives of Craft said the man had a history of mental problems, police and prosecutors said.

The judge denied a defense motion to dismiss the murder charge. Duffey had argued that Craft’s actions were warranted in light of the circumstances and were not premeditated.

“Let’s not forget the victim arrived there with a gun himself,” Duffey said. “Let’s not forget the defendant was standing on his own property.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Martin L. Herscovitz argued that Craft could not claim self-defense because he had engaged in an aggressive act.

“Once you commit a felonious act, you have no right to self-defense,” he said.

Craft will be arraigned Sept. 21, in Superior Court.