BRIEFLY IN THE NEWS Hearing begins in...

BRIEFLY IN

THE NEWS

Hearing begins in 1979 teen murder case

A hearing started Monday in Riverside County to consider a request

by the defense team of James Lee Crummel to admit evidence that could

exonerate Crummel of charges that he killed a Costa Mesa teenager in

1979. The hearing will continue Thursday.

Crummel was arrested in Newport Beach in 1997 on suspicion of

murdering 13-year-old Jamey Wilfred Trotter. He has been in jail

since, serving terms for molesting young boys. His defense team is

trying to get evidence admitted that links Trotter’s death to

executed murderer William Bonin, the infamous “Freeway Killer.”

On Monday, however, their star witness, James Munro, refused to

testify and invoked his right under the 5th Amendment not to speak.

Munro has reportedly told five people over a period of 22 years that

Bonin killed Trotter. Munro was a co-defendant of Bonin’s and

testified against him in the last murder Bonin was convicted of.

One of the five people Munro allegedly told -- psychiatrist Vondra

Pelto -- testified Monday. Munro told Pelto about Bonin’s alleged

link during an interview with a defense investigator in prison in

2003, said Mary Ann Galante, lead defense counsel for Crummel.

-- Deirdre Newman