Iraq war veteran’s father is charged
The father of an Iraq war veteran accused of beating his girlfriend to death has been charged with threatening one of the woman’s friends during a courthouse confrontation.
Mike Needham Sr., 54, is scheduled to be arraigned next month on one misdemeanor count of making criminal threats and one misdemeanor count of battery, prosecutors said Monday. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 18 months in jail.
Needham was at the Orange County courthouse in Santa Ana on Sept. 26 awaiting his son’s arraignment in the slaying of Jacque Villagomez, an aspiring model who was found barely breathing over Labor Day weekend in the San Clemente condo where she lived with the Needhams.
The arraignment was scheduled to be held early that morning but was delayed twice because sheriff’s deputies, hampered by logistical problems, did not bring John Wylie Needham, 25, from the county jail to the courthouse until late afternoon.
At some point after the second delay, Needham approached two of Villagomez’s friends, a 19-year-old woman and 24-year-old man, on the patio of the court cafeteria.
Needham is accused of yelling profanities at the woman and threatening to kill her while accusing the victim of being a prostitute. He allegedly pushed her male friend as he attempted to step between them. A friend stepped in and separated Needham from the woman.
After Needham was taken into custody at the courthouse, his son, a decorated Army veteran, pleaded not guilty to the murder charge.
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