Transvestite Says in Letter That He ‘Hurt’ Elderly Ventura Man

Less than a week after an elderly man was found badly beaten in his Ventura home, Jamie Cid wrote a long letter to his sister.

“I had to leave town because I hurt Jack, the old man,” the letter read. “He picked me up and got crazy with me at his house. He was left in critical condition.”

Part of the letter, which detectives found in Cid’s date book, was read aloud during a preliminary hearing Friday for the 29-year-old transvestite, who is accused of beating Ventura retiree Jack Jamar to death. Cid went on to write that he had gotten $1,200, but didn’t say how.

Cid is charged with murder and robbery in the fatal beating of 78-year-old Jamar last March. He also faces a special allegation accusing him of killing Jamar during a robbery, a charge that could make him eligible for the death penalty.

Police said they found Jamar in his bed with dried blood covering his face. Though he was conscious at the time, he fell into a coma soon after and died on May 16. Medical examiners said his death was caused by head injuries.

Prosecutors believe that Cid beat up Jamar after going to his Varsity Street house to rob him. Witnesses testified that Jamar picked Cid up on Ventura Avenue, where the transvestite worked as a prostitute. When the pair arrived, they got into a fight that left Jamar seriously injured.

Defense attorneys say Cid might have acted in self-defense. Cid told both a detective and his friend that he hit Jamar after the elderly man pulled out a gun.

Cid’s attorney, Craig Robinson, said he doesn’t believe the case adds up to murder.

“This probably wouldn’t have been filed as murder in Los Angeles,” he said. “It would have been filed as manslaughter.”

During the preliminary hearing, prosecutors played a tape of a telephone conversation between Cid’s mother and Cid’s friend, Racquel Teran, that took place shortly after the incident. Valerie Cid told Teran that Jamie said he was in trouble and was scared because of something that had happened.

“I thought the cops were after him,” Valerie Cid said to Teran.

But in court Friday, Valerie Cid said she fabricated everything on the tape, and that she was lying to Teran. She acknowledged picking her son up that night and said he looked like he had been doing drugs, but said he didn’t seem scared.

Teran testified that Cid also told her he had gotten into a fight with Jamar, who was known for paying prostitutes well. Cid thought he had hurt the man badly, she said. Teran added that Cid bought a car after the incident.

Defense attorney Robinson attacked the credibility of Teran, who has a criminal record and admitted that she uses drugs regularly. She was in jail on drug charges when she told officers about Cid allegedly beating Jamar.

“You’ll say anything to get out of jail, right?” Robinson asked.

“At that time, yeah,” Teran responded.

The preliminary hearing continues Monday in Ventura County Superior Court.