New Witness Is Found in Dowey Beating Case

Authorities say a new witness has stepped forward in the beating death of Ventura college student Nick Dowey, alleging to know the identity of an assailant who struck Dowey in the head with a baseball bat during a rowdy Meiners Oaks party in September 1997.

The witness, whom attorneys declined to identify because of safety concerns, brings investigators closer to an arrest in the 21-month homicide case, which, despite a grand jury review, has never resulted in any arrests.

According to Ventura County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ralph Zermeno, a homicide investigator, the unidentified witness “is expected to lead to the issuance of one or more indictments, arrests . . . and ultimately criminal prosecution.”

Zermeno wrote his statements in a memo for attorneys defending eight Ventura County sheriff’s deputies who are being sued in Los Angeles federal court by Dowey’s parents.

Testimony in the case began last week in U.S. District Judge Mariana R. Pfaelzer’s courtroom.

The Doweys claim the deputies responding to a disturbance at the party treated their son like a suspect instead of a victim, even striking him in the head with a flashlight--a blow the Doweys believe contributed to the 21-year-old man’s death.

Several witnesses have testified to seeing deputies Donald Rodarte and Darin Yanover struggle at the scene with the former high school wrestler.

Defense attorney Alan Wisotsky on Monday said he plans to call the new witness to the stand when he begins his case later this week.

Wisotsky said he hopes the witness will convince jurors that Dowey had suffered a severe blow directly to the head with a baseball bat before deputies arrived and that injury was the one that caused his death.

Zermeno, summarizing the witness’ statements in his court memo, said, “The witness saw a named individual strike Nicholas Dowey on the left side of his head with an aluminum baseball bat and saw Nicholas Dowey immediately crumple to the ground. . . . The witness told me that the swing which felled Nicholas Dowey was even faster than a batter would swing at a baseball.”

Investigators in the criminal case, however, are concerned about revealing the identity of their latest witness. They said they believe this would put the safety of the witness in jeopardy and could harm their case.

“Witnesses have told me they believe that they and their families will be killed if they cooperate with law enforcement in providing information,” Zermeno wrote in court documents. “If the identity of the person described in this declaration is made public at this time, I fear for her/his safety and the safety of her/his family.”

Rumors that two street gangs were involved in the attack on Dowey has made it difficult to get many of the witnesses that evening to talk, Zermeno said.

“Witness intimidation is the major reason why this homicide has been so difficult to solve,” Zermeno wrote. “In no other case which I can remember has there been upward of 40 witnesses of a senseless beating death . . . and no one will provide information.”

As a precaution, Wisotsky said he hopes to bar the public from the courtroom during testimony by witnesses. Judge Pfaelzer, who served on the Los Angeles Police Commission for four years and was appointed to the federal bench in 1978, has not ruled on his request.

In other developments in the civil case, defense attorneys said they plan to play an audiotape recording of witness Tom Frank, 19, of Ojai.

According to court documents, Frank also saw Dowey as he was severely beaten by a group of seven unknown assailants carrying bats and other weapons. In a taped interview with authorities, Frank said Dowey was surrounded by the group as he left the party.

Standing about 50-feet away, Frank said, he watched as Dowey was hit over the head with a steering wheel locking device sold as “The Club.”

“The blow cracked Nick’s head,” Frank told authorities. “It made a dreadful ‘oof’ sound.”

Frank described the attack as being like a professional hit. The assailants were dressed in all dark clothes with long sleeve shirts and wore beanies pulled over their faces with holes cut out for their eyes and noses, he said. At the end of the attack Frank said someone yelled, “It’s been more than two minutes,” and everyone scrambled to get back into their cars.

As they left, one attacker called out “Westside Boys,” the court document said.

Frank also describes a violent struggle between Dowey and police a few minutes after the first attack, alleging one officer put Dowey in a headlock while another punched the wounded man in the face.

One deputy, he said, hit Dowey with a flashlight.

It “wasn’t a direct, hard hit,” Frank told authorities. “It was more like something out of desperation.”

Attorneys have not been able to find Frank since his original interview with police. Wisotsky seeks to play the audiotape in lieu of putting Frank on the stand. Pfaelzer will also rule on that request this week.