Key to Slaying Is Why, Not Who, Jury Told

Opening statements made Tuesday at the trial of Amber Merrie Bray and her boyfriend, Jeffrey Glenn Ayers--both charged in the slaying of Bray’s mother--were in agreement that Ayers, at least, was involved in the killing.

“This is not going to be a case of who done it,” said Deputy Public Defender Patricia Mulligan, Ayers’ lawyer. “But more of a why done it.”

Witnesses will tell of “Bray screaming at Ayers how miserable her life was, how her mom abused her,” Mulligan told the jury in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

The crime that took place in Burbank, she said, was not motivated by a $310,000 inheritance or planned.

“It was a killing by a young man completely torn apart because of his girlfriend and her problems,” Mulligan said.

Bray’s attorney, Joy Wilensky, did not give an opening statement Tuesday. Her statement is expected after the prosecution has completed its case, in an estimated two weeks.

Ayers, 22, and Bray, 20, have both pleaded not guilty to murder and conspiracy in the killing of Dixie Lee Hollier in her Burbank home.

Ayers and Bray face enhanced penalties--maximum sentences of life in state prison without the possibility of parole--if it’s additionally found that the slaying was planned and motivated by financial gain.

The prosecutor in the case, Deputy Dist. Atty. Al MacKenzie, read during his opening statement from letters that Bray and Ayers allegedly sent to each other. MacKenzie began with a letter he said Bray sent Ayers about two months before the killing.

It described a scenario in which Bray’s mother--and also Bray’s 15-year-old sister, Amy--were killed.

“Dear Jeffrey,” MacKenzie read. “What do you think of this? . . . Someone breaks into the house and kills Amy and mom.

“I come home to discover them, call police--neighbors hear nothing--and it goes on record as an unsolved homicide. I like it,” MacKenzie continued.

The prosecutor said that on Jan. 16, 1996, Ayers shot Hollier twice and, using three knives, slashed and stabbed her 24 times.

“Amber Merrie Bray stood by and assisted him,” MacKenzie said.

“Burbank police arrived to see Jeffrey Ayers over [Hollier’s] body, stabbing Dixie Lee Hollier to death,” the prosecutor said.

“There’s an old saying about being caught red-handed . . . ; his hands were covered in blood.”

Throughout MacKenzie’s statement, Ayers and Bray frequently cupped their hands to their faces, dropped their heads and closed their eyes.

They did not acknowledge one another, even though they sat within arm’s reach.