Trial to Begin for Teenager Accused of Killing 2 Boys

In La Crescenta, an idyllic, close-knit bedroom community nestled between the San Gabriel and Verdugo mountains, the discovery of the bloody, battered bodies of two boys at a schoolyard could not have been more shocking.

Christopher McCulloch, 13, and Blaine Talmo Jr., 14, had been bludgeoned beyond recognition, their bodies sprawled on the playground of La Crescenta’s Valley View Elementary School.

Two area teenagers, then five other youths, were arrested in connection with the slayings, which investigators said had probably been carried out by more than one person. But so far prosecutors have filed murder charges only against 15-year-old Michael Hrayr Demirdjian.

Prosecution Outlines Case

Now, eight months after the grisly crime, Demirdjian’s trial is set to begin today in Pasadena Superior Court.

Deputy Dist. Attys. Steve Barshop and Truc Do contend that Demirdjian killed the boys because he wanted to rob them. They plan to present an array of evidence featuring some of law enforcement’s most cutting-edge sleuthing, from computer forensics to suspect identifications made by sharp-nosed dogs.

Demirdjian, who if convicted faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, has steadfastly maintained that he did not commit the murders, but merely witnessed them.

“My client saw the murder happen. He was there. It scared” him, said defense attorney Charles T. Mathews. “My client didn’t kill or hurt either boy.”

Demirdjian will testify, Mathews said. The boy has already told police that a 19-year-old committed the murders--allegations that prosecutors say aren’t supported by the evidence.

That 19-year-old accused by Demirdjian is not a suspect, prosecutors said. “The overwhelming evidence will show that [Demirdjian’s claims] are preposterous,” Do said.

Instead, four others--three 18-year-old La Crescenta men and a 17-year-old Montrose girl--are now also murder suspects, according to recently unsealed court documents. In an unusual twist, prosecutors said those same four suspects have admitted to conspiracy to kidnap the 19-year-old man who Demirdjian claims is the murderer.

None of them has been charged. “We have to have corroborating evidence,” said Sgt. Rick Young, spokesman for the Glendale Police Department. “It’s an ongoing criminal investigation.”

If called to testify, the four suspects are expected to invoke their 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination, prosecutors said. In interviews with police, all four--who said they knew Demirdjian--claimed to have been on a trip to Palm Springs the night the victims were killed.

Among the 25 witnesses that prosecutors do intend to call for the trial, which is expected to last about two weeks, are dog handlers for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department as well as a Glendale police investigator who searched Demirdjian’s computer hard drive.

Aided by a software program called Encase, the Glendale investigator said he found photos of a man choking a boy, which echo how the victims had been attacked. Demirdjian’s computer also contained a violent poem that had been downloaded from the Internet. One stanza of the poem, whose authorship is unknown, explicitly refers to dropping a big rock on a person’s head, which was how the victims were killed.

Together, the photos and the poem reflect Demirdjian’s intent and state of mind when committing the murders, prosecutors alleged.

Also integral to the prosecution’s case will be olfactory evidence generated by police dogs. A bloodhound named Scarlett eventually led police from the crime scene to Demirdjian’s front door, prosecutors said. Inside, police say they discovered blood that matched McCulloch’s DNA and a wallet that belonged to Talmo.

More controversial will be the presentation of scent lineups--the use of which in trial is an untested area of California law.

After sniffing the scent collected from a rock believed to be a murder weapon, a chocolate Labrador named Reilly picked Demirdjian’s odor out of a lineup of pads containing the smells of potential suspects. In other sniff tests, Reilly also identified the smells of two of the four other teenage suspects from scents collected from the crime scene, according to the prosecution.

Photos of Slaying to Be Shown

To show robbery as a motive, prosecutors intend to display grisly photos of the victims just as they were found, with their pant pockets turned inside out as if someone had searched and emptied them.

As for the defense, Mathews has indicated he will argue that the dog-sniffing evidence is unreliable and cannot be trusted.

Potential witnesses, who may or may not be called, have told police in various interviews that they believed the crime was drug- or gang-related.

Demirdjian had ties with the notorious Crips gang, according to police. The victims as well as the defendant had been experimenting with drugs, those who knew them said.

One mystery may only deepen when the man accused by Demirdjian as the actual murderer makes his appearance at the trial.

The 19-year-old has already indicated that he would refuse to testify as a witness, according to attorneys on both sides.

But Mathews said he plans to bring the man into court anyway, so that the jury can at least get a good, long look at him, even if he says nothing.

“He’ll be an exhibit,” Do said.