New Evidence Delays Teen’s Murder Trial

The murder trial of a 15-year-old boy accused of bludgeoning two teenagers to death was delayed Wednesday after prosecutors revealed new evidence which a defense attorney claimed will help acquit his client.

Over the objection of prosecutors, Pasadena Superior Court Judge Joseph F. De Vanon on Wednesday ruled that the case against Michael Hrayr Demirdjian “is substantially involved and complicated” enough to warrant giving the youth’s attorney more time to analyze the new evidence to prepare for trial by March 19.

The new evidence, which includes a police dog’s alleged identification of two more potential suspects as well as the fingerprint of one of those youths on a drug pipe found near the crime scene, was cited in documents submitted to the court Wednesday by defense attorney Charles T. Mathews.

These are “significant issues which could significantly aid [Demirdjian] in establishing his innocence,” Mathews wrote.

Demirdjian is charged with the first-degree murder of Blaine Talmo Jr., 14, and Christopher McCulloch, 13, whose bodies were found on the playground of a La Crescenta elementary school on July 23 last year.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Steve Barshop alleged that Demirdjian robbed and killed the boys, using a rock and a park bench as weapons.

Demirdjian, who has steadfastly maintained his innocence, has told police that he was merely a witness to the murders, which he alleged had been committed by another teenager. That teenager was arrested on suspicion of murder after Demirdjian’s arrest, but Glendale police dropped murder allegations against him.

In addition to that teenager, five other youths--including three juveniles--were arrested in connection with the murder case, but they were released after prosecutors last Aug. 1 declined to file charges against them.

In court papers Wednesday, Mathews said the two new potential suspects connected to the crime scene are among the five youths who had been arrested but released. “Now it appears clear that they are new targets of the police investigation,” Mathews wrote.

Included in the new evidence disclosed to Demirdjian’s defense were scent lineups involving a police dog named Reilly. The chocolate Labrador sniffed a series of pads containing odors that potential suspects left behind, much like a photo lineup.

Reilly matched the scents of the two youths with the odors collected from a rock believed to be a murder weapon and failed to identify Demirdjian, according to court documents.

“The evidence linking [the two youths] to the perceived murder weapon is a dramatic new fact in this case,” Mathews wrote.

In a different scent lineup cited earlier by prosecutors, Reilly connected Demirdjian to the crime-scene rock, and Mathews has argued that the identification is unreliable. The judge is expected to rule next month whether that evidence will be part of the trial.

Other new evidence that has emerged is the discovery of a water pipe that could be used for smoking cocaine found near the crime scene, according to court documents. The fingerprints of one of the two youths are allegedly on that pipe.

Glendale police refused comment Wednesday on the two youths, saying only that no one recently has been arrested for the murders and that there is no warrant out at this time for anyone’s arrest in connection with the crime. “We are still continuing our investigation,” said Sgt. Rick Young, spokesman for the Glendale Police Department.

For the upcoming trial, prosecutors are also trying to introduce a poem seized from Demirdjian’s computer that they contend shows the killings had been premeditated and planned.