Self-Defense Cited in Slaying of Brother

A Camarillo man accused of murdering his brother took the witness stand Wednesday and claimed that he feared the younger man when he shot him to death in front of the family home last year.

Randy James Waggoner, 38, said he killed Tracey Duane Waggoner, 34, in self-defense precipitated by a violent argument.

Waggoner told the jury that he feared for his life the night he fired a single .22-caliber bullet into Tracey’s chest Oct. 2. He testified that his brother broke a glass mug on his face earlier in the evening and that he fled to a friend’s house. Several hours later, Randy said, he returned home and began to slash the tires of his brother’s car.

He testified that he was startled when Tracey jumped out of the car as he punctured the last tire and confronted him. Randy said he grabbed a .22-caliber rifle that he had laid nearby.

He also said he feared that Tracey may have been armed with a gun or knife when he raised the rifle and pointed it at his brother, who he quoted as saying, “What are you going to do, shoot me?”

Waggoner said he was consumed with fear and does not remember pulling the trigger. He quoted his brother as saying “I’m dead, I’m dead--you killed me” immediately after the shooting.

Waggoner said he fled to a girlfriend’s house near Barstow, where he was arrested. He conceded under cross-examination that he lied to detectives immediately after his arrest about what occurred. He testified that the intense fear he was feeling made it difficult for him to reconstruct events of the evening.

If convicted of first-degree murder, he faces a life sentence without the possibility of parole. The trial continues today.