Woman Tells Jurors She Was Raped by Murder Defendant

A Ventura woman told jurors Tuesday she was raped by murder defendant Justin Merriman in early 1995, three years after the skinhead gang member allegedly raped and slit the throat of a 20-year-old college student.

Merriman, 28, is facing murder charges in connection with the November 1992 slaying of Santa Monica College student Katrina Montgomery.

Prosecutors say Merriman killed Montgomery to prevent her from reporting to police an hours-long sexual assault that allegedly occurred in his Ventura home after a party.

They further allege in a 25-count indictment that Merriman raped two other women in the same manner--trapping them in bedrooms or hallways and subjecting them to lengthy, violent sexual assaults.

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Last week the first of those two alleged victims testified she had been repeatedly raped and beaten by Merriman between 1992 and 1995. The woman, who once dated Merriman, told jurors he would often show up at her house, high on drugs and demanding sex.

On Tuesday the second alleged victim testified she was also raped by the defendant in early 1995 while they were using heroin and methamphetamine together.

At the time, the woman said, she was living on her father’s 40-foot boat, which was docked at a local harbor. She testified Merriman and his fellow skinhead gang members sometimes came over to party and did so on the day of the assault.

She and Merriman went to a bedroom after using drugs that day and began kissing and “messing around,” she said. But then his demeanor changed, she said, and he became aggressive and for several hours forced her to engage in various sex acts.

“I wanted to leave,” she testified. “I was afraid.”

On cross-examination, the woman acknowledged she never reported the incident to police and did not seek medical attention. She also admitted withholding details of the alleged assault when she testified before a grand jury in 1998.

At one point Tuesday, defense attorney Phil Capritto challenged the woman’s story, suggesting her “sexual play” with Merriman was consensual.

“It wasn’t sexual play,” she responded.

Asked by Deputy Dist. Atty. Ron Bamieh why she omitted information before the grand jury, the woman said she was scared of retaliation. “I didn’t want to be labeled a rat,” she said.

In other testimony Tuesday, Merriman’s 27-year-old sister, Ember Wyman, told jurors she helped her mother clean blood off a white carpeted stairway in the family’s condominium in November 1992.

Wyman, who was 19 at the time, could not remember details of the carpet cleaning, such as how much blood was on the stairs or whether her brother was home.

But Wyman acknowledged she had intentionally withheld information from police and a grand jury when the investigation into Montgomery’s disappearance focused on her older brother.

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In 1998, fearing she could be charged criminally, Wyman asked for immunity from prosecution and told authorities she had helped clean up the blood, which prosecutors contend belonged to Montgomery.

Testimony is scheduled to resume this morning in Ventura County Superior Court before Judge Vincent O’Neill.