Klaas Witness Describes Second Man

The trial of the man accused of killing Polly Klaas took an odd turn Thursday when a teenager testified that she saw a tall, thin man looking into house windows and talking to the defendant on the night of the kidnapping.

Fifteen-year-old Kamika Milstead said the tall man spoke to suspect Richard Allen Davis through a car window and pointed toward the Klaas home. Milstead, who lives in the neighborhood, said she saw Davis in a 1979 Honda Accord. In fact, Davis had a 1979 Ford Pinto.

Milstead’s testimony about a second man startled some.

“What’s that all about?” Polly’s father, Marc Klaas, asked outside the courtroom.

But prosecutor Greg Jacobs, who had called Milstead to testify, said the story was familiar to lawyers in the case. He said he would reveal his theory about the second man in his closing argument.

“You could say, ‘Well, gee, maybe there’s a conspiracy here, maybe there’s a second man,’ ” Jacobs said. But he added, “You could also just say that Mr. Davis was down there and he’s just conversing with people . . . showing that he wasn’t a stranger to the area.”

Defense attorney Barry Collins, who on Wednesday unveiled a surprise of his own by candidly admitting to the jury that his client is guilty, declined to comment on Milstead’s testimony.

It appeared that Jacobs was trying to undermine Davis’ story to police that he was high on drugs and alcohol at the time of the kidnapping and didn’t remember anything clearly until he found himself driving around the Sonoma Valley with Polly in the front seat.

Jacobs repeatedly asked witnesses who had seen Davis on the night of the kidnapping whether he seemed to be under the influence. All answered no.

Davis, a parolee whose violent record sparked California’s “three strikes” law, is charged with murder, kidnapping and robbery, among other things. He pleaded not guilty, but his attorney said Davis killed Klaas.