Murder Suspect Indicted in Alleged Witness Threats

The Ventura County Grand Jury handed down a five-count felony indictment Friday against accused killer Justin Merriman, alleging that the 26-year-old Ventura man has threatened witnesses in his case for the last five months.

Merriman is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday on three counts of witness intimidation, plus charges of conspiracy and solicitation to persuade witnesses not to testify against him.

Prosecutors said Merriman, a former leader of a Ventura skinhead gang, started threatening witnesses Jan. 6, the same day he was first indicted by the grand jury.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Ron Bamieh said the alleged threats continued up to last week and remain under investigation by his office.

“It is not over,” he said, “and anybody involved in this will be held responsible.”

In January, the grand jury served Merriman with a 25-count indictment in the 1992 slaying of Santa Monica college student Katrina Montgomery and other crimes.

Montgomery, a 20-year-old former Ventura High School student, disappeared Nov. 28, 1992. Authorities say Merriman met her at a party thrown by mutual friends in Oxnard and later raped and killed her.

He has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, rape and forced oral copulation in Montgomery’s killing. He faces four more rape charges involving two other victims, plus assault charges stemming from a police standoff.

His trial is set for January 2000.

Next week, Bamieh plans to ask a judge to permanently cut off Merriman’s visitation and phone privileges to prevent him from allegedly threatening witnesses in the future. A temporary order is already in place.

Defense attorneys have opposed the request, arguing that their client has a right to make phone calls and receive weekly visitors.

According to Bamieh’s court papers, the alleged threats began after a series of witnesses testified before the grand jury in December and January.

Prosecutors did not identify witnesses who were allegedly threatened, but grand jury transcripts that Merriman has access to identify several key witnesses.

One witness, Larry Nicassio, has testified that he spent the night of Montgomery’s disappearance at Merriman’s house. He said he watched in silent horror as Merriman stabbed Montgomery in the neck, then fatally beat her with a crescent wrench and slit her throat.

Other witnesses testified that Merriman made incriminating statements after Montgomery’s disappearance, according to transcripts of those proceedings. One ex-girlfriend told the panel that Merriman once threatened to slit her throat “just like Trina.”