Ziesmer’s Request for Holiday Visit With Mother Denied

A Ventura County judge Tuesday denied a murder defendant’s request to see his mother during the Christmas holiday, saying that nothing has changed since he removed the jail privileges of white supremacist David Ziesmer three months ago.

“He is still a danger to the community,” Superior Court Judge Art Gutierrez said. “He wants to kill witnesses. He wants to kill people.”

Defense attorney Richard Loftus filed the request last week to allow a visit between Ziesmer, 27, of Oxnard and his mother, Linda.

“In the interest of humanity, if nothing else, we think his mother should be allowed to visit,” Loftus told the judge.

But prosecutors argued that the victim’s mother would not have an opportunity for a holiday visit with her daughter, who was stabbed to death in a Ventura motel in October 1998. The skeletal remains of 17-year-old Nichole Hendrix were found six months later in the hills north of Ojai.

“We should not be in the business of cutting this man a break,” Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Ron Bamieh said during the hearing, held in Ventura.

Three months ago, Gutierrez halted Ziesmer’s communication from jail after prosecutors presented evidence showing that he had solicited help from gang members to harm witnesses.

Now, Ziesmer may receive visits only from investigators or his lawyers. He is not allowed to place or receive phone calls, and all his mail is monitored.

Gutierrez said he understood the plea for a mother to see her son on Christmas. But he said the court has a legal responsibility to protect the community.

As Gutierrez read his ruling, Hendrix’s mother, Shelly Holland, clapped and let out a cheer.

After the hearing, Bamieh criticized the defense for making the request.

“Ms. Holland is not going to see her daughter for a third Christmas in a row,” Bamieh said. “I find it completely disgusting to argue in court to have some humanity for David Ziesmer.”

Ziesmer was indicted by the Ventura County Grand Jury in August on five felony charges, including murder, conspiracy and being an active participant in a criminal street gang.

According to transcripts of the grand jury proceedings, witnesses testified that Ziesmer beat and stabbed Hendrix to death under the mistaken belief that she was a “rat” who had recently talked to police about him.

Ziesmer also faces special allegations that the slaying occurred during a robbery and kidnapping. The allegations make him eligible for the death penalty, although prosecutors have not decided whether to seek it.

About an hour after the hearing Tuesday, a man who admitted to helping dispose of Hendrix’s body was sentenced to three years and four months in state prison for his role in covering up the slaying.

Skinhead gang member James Bowman, 21, of Ventura had pleaded guilty Nov. 6 to being an accessory after the fact for dumping Hendrix’s body into a ravine near Pine Mountain. He also pleaded guilty to perjury and being an active gang member.

During the sentencing hearing, Bowman, dressed in jail blues and standing behind a courtroom partition, dropped his head and stared at the floor as Holland and other family members described the loss of Hendrix to Judge Bruce Clark.

“This is what is left of my daughter,” Holland said through tears, holding up a tiny silver vial containing her daughter’s ashes, which she wears on a chain around her neck. “There was not even enough of her left to put in a premature-baby casket.”

Holland told Clark that she knows Bowman was acting on the orders of another person. But she said he still deserves a prison sentence for his crimes.

Defense attorney Phil Capritto argued that Bowman was also afraid of being called a “rat” by Ziesmer, causing him to lie to authorities and open himself up to the perjury charge.

If he had told the truth, the lawyer said, “he’d be a dead man.”

Capritto asked Clark to take the circumstances of the perjury charge into consideration when sentencing Bowman, arguing that his client entered an early plea and showed remorse.

Clark sentenced Bowman to two years on the perjury charge, which carries a maximum sentence of four years. The judge also ordered him to serve two consecutive eight-month sentences for the other charges and pay nearly $24,000 in restitution to the victim’s parents.

Outside the courtroom, Holland said she is now bracing for the trials of Ziesmer and three other defendants charged in connection with her daughter’s slaying. A fifth defendant recently pleaded guilty to being a co-conspirator and is expected to be sentenced in February.

Heading back to his office after the hearing, Bamieh said, “Two down, four to go.”