Transvestite to Stand Trial in Slaying

A Ventura man was ordered to stand trial on murder charges in the beating death of a retired business owner at his home.

Jamie Cid, 29, faces charges of murder, robbery and a special allegation that the killing occurred during a robbery. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

Judge James Cloninger made the decision Monday morning after a two-day preliminary hearing in Ventura County Superior Court.

Prosecutors argued that Cid, a transvestite, was working as a prostitute in March when 78-year-old Jack Jamar picked him up on Ventura Avenue. Cid was strung out on heroin and wanted to rob Jamar, who was known for paying prostitutes well, Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Maeve Fox said.

When the pair arrived at Jamar’s Varsity Street house, they got into a fight that left Jamar badly beaten. Then Cid took off with Jamar’s wallet, bought a car and headed out of town, Fox said.

“The actions of the defendant speak louder than words,” Fox said.

But Cid’s defense attorney, Craig Robinson, said his client was defending himself and that the case should have been filed as manslaughter, not murder. Cid says Jamar pulled a gun on him.

“We know that there was an altercation,” Robinson said. “We know that there was some kind of threat made against the defendant. We know that the defendant used force in self-defense.”

Police found Jamar after a woman discovered his wallet and tried to return it to him. But when no one came to the door, she left the wallet with a neighbor, who called the police.

When police arrived, they found Jamar lying on his bed wearing only a T-shirt. His face was swollen and covered with dried blood and he could barely speak. Officers originally thought he had been shot. Jamar died two months later from head injuries.

During the preliminary hearing, a friend of Cid’s, Racquel Teran, testified that Cid said Jamar got angry and pulled out a gun when he realized that Cid was a man. Cid told her he hit Jamar and thought that he had hurt him badly, she testified.

Teran said she and Cid had spent a few days prior to the incident drinking and doing drugs in a Ventura motel room.

Defense attorneys said Teran should not be believed, because she has a criminal record and received help from prosecutors in avoiding prison time.

Police testified that Cid wrote a letter to his sister saying he had to leave town because he “hurt Jack, the old man.” Cid wrote that he left the man in “critical condition.”

And in a conversation between Teran and Cid’s mother soon after the incident, Valerie Cid said she thought her son was in trouble and that the police were after him because of something that had happened with an old man. But in court, she said she lied to Teran, and that her son did not seem scared or nervous after the incident.

Cid is to be arraigned March 1.