Andregg
to stand trial for murder
By
Fred Mramor of the Desert Journal
Sam
Andregg, 24, of Truth or Consequences, this week was bound over for trial
on a first-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of David Johnson,
47, at Johnson’s home on Riverside Drive on April 21 upon police
testimony that Andregg confessed to the killing.
Magistrate
Tom Pestak in Tuesday’s preliminary hearing found also that there is
probable cause to try Andregg on charges related to the murder case of
unlawful taking of a motor vehicle, larceny over $250, tampering with
evidence and conspiracy to tamper with evidence.
Questioned
by prosecutor June Stein, T or C Police Sgt. Jessie Harzewski testified
she was called to Johnson’s residence at 500 N. Riverside Drive at about
5 p.m. April 21.
Approaching
the house and looking through a window, Harzewski said she saw a body
lying on the living room floor.
She
said she saw objects - possibly knives - sticking out of Johnson’s back.
Harzewski said she called Police Chief David Bryant and they then made
arrangements to bring New Mexico State Police in on the case.
Upon
closer examination of the body, Harzewski said she saw an ice pick handle
sticking out of the victim’s head just above his ear and a large knife
in his back.
Harzewski
said Johnson’s belt was unbuckled, his pants were loosened and down
slightly and a back pocket was torn and hanging from the pants.
She
said blood was found on a stereo speaker lying in the center of the living
room floor. Harzewski said she saw dresser drawers in disarray and strewn
about along with clothing and other items in the main bedroom.
A
dresser drawer was toppled out onto the bed in a second bedroom, Harzewski
said. She said the second bedroom was not in as bad a condition as the
main bedroom but that some items had been shuffled around. Harzewski said
two state police officers photographed the scene and marked evidence.
Harzewksi
said she learned in the course of the investigation that a vehicle, an
Isuzu Trooper belonging to Johnson, was missing from the residence. She
said the Trooper was discovered a few days later in a ravine off
Interstate 25 a few miles north of town.
Harzewski
said police had some difficulty locating on the ground the vehicle that
was first spotted by a light aircraft pilot.
After
processing the outside of the Trooper at the ravine, it was then
transported to State Police headquarters for a more thorough examination,
Harzewski said. She said a large rock was found on the vehicle’s
driver’s side floor.
In
cross-examination by defense counsel Mark Earnest, Harzewski said she had
been the lead investigator in the case since she was first called to
Johnson’s residence and until State Police Agent Norman Rhoades took
over; Harzewski said she doesn’t recall exactly when that was. She said
she is no longer seeking witnesses in the case.
Called
by the prosecution, Agent Rhoades testified that he was assigned to the
case on Aug. 2. Rhoades said he interviewed Sam Andregg three times on two
dates with the final interview being held at the State Police office in
Albuquerque on Sept. 12.
Andregg
in that interview said he had been smoking marijuana all day on April 20 -
the day before Johnson’s body was discovered - and at 10 p.m. called for
a taxi from his mother’s home to take him to the Pine Knot Saloon,
Rhoades testified. Andregg said he stayed at the Pine Knot until closing
sometime between 1:30 and 2 a.m., Rhoades said.
Andregg
said he met a man (Johnson) in the parking lot whom he described as older
and wearing a ponytail and glasses, Rhoades testified. Andregg stated that
he went to Johnson’s home where Andregg said he expected to purchase two
marijuana cigarettes, Rhoades said.
Andregg
said that when they arrived at Johnson’s home, Johnson put on music and
lit a “smudge stick,” Rhoades said. Rhoades said he assumed a smudge
stick was some kind of incense.
Andregg
stated he repeatedly stabbed Johnson in the chest with a screwdriver
Andregg had found in the utility room, Rhoades said. Andregg said Johnson
tried to grab Andregg’s head in the struggle, Rhoades testified, and
Andregg added that he pushed Johnson to the floor and Johnson never got
up.
Andregg
said he was angry and stabbed Johnson some more with the screwdriver while
Johnson was on the floor and that he stabbed Johnson several times in the
head with an ice pick he found in the kitchen, according to Rhoades.
Andregg
said he rummaged through Johnson’s house for marijuana but that he
didn’t find any, Rhoades said.
Andregg
said he was still angry and flipped over a large table and found a large
knife and again stabbed Johnson and stomped on his head. Rhoades also
testified that an autopsy revealed that Johnson had been stabbed 43 times.
The
prosecutor never asked the two witnesses why Andregg stabbed Johnson to
death.
Defense
counsel Earnest asked Rhoades if something happened during the interview,
if there had been some “watershed” when Andregg told the truth of what
happened at Johnson’s home.
Rhoades
said Andregg was crying when he entered the interview room and that
Andregg said his head and stomach hurt. He said Andregg was bent over and
displayed a lot of emotion but Rhoades said he doesn’t know if there was
any one thing during the interview that “broke the watershed.”
Andregg
said he would like to be able to trust Rhoades and the other state police
officer at the interview, but didn't know if he could, and that he was
going to die in any case - a reference to the death penalty, Rhoades said.
Rhoades
testified that it did not appear from his investigation that Andregg knew
Johnson before meeting him at the Pine Knot on April 20. Over the
prosecutor’s objection, Rhoades testified that Andregg said he had been
drinking and using drugs during much of that day.
Earnest
verified with Rhoades that Andregg said he was angry when he attacked
Johnson. Rhoades said Andregg used the word “enraged” during the
interview.
Prosecutor
Stein objected but Magistrate Pestak allowed testimony to the use of the
word “enraged” after the defense entered into evidence a transcript of
the Sept. 12 interview.
Andregg
said he went to Johnson’s home to buy two marijuana cigarettes but when
at the residence Johnson twice made sexual advances toward him, Rhoades
testified.
Based
upon Rhoades’ investigation, and for the purpose of corroborating the
truth of Andregg’s statement, Earnest asked if Rhoades believed Johnson
was a homosexual.
Stein
objected to the question as irrelevant, probably wishing to keep
Johnson’s homosexual advances, as alleged by Andregg, from being viewed
as a mitigating factor in the killing.
Judge
Pestak did not allow Rhoades to answer.
Rhoades
further testified that to his knowledge no marijuana was found at
Johnson’s home, that Andregg said he had placed a rock on the
accelerator of Johnson’s vehicle and put it in gear to allow it to go
into a ravine, and that there was no indication that Andregg used credit
cards stolen from Johnson.
June
Stein presented no closing argument but Mark Earnest said that, given
Andregg’s statements in the interview with state police on Sept. 12, and
the corroboration of those statements in testimony during the preliminary
hearing, the charge of first degree, premeditated murder should be reduced
to a second degree, heat of passion charge.
Earnest
said further the state has not shown that there is probable cause that Sam
Andregg committed murder in the first degree but only that he may have
committed murder in the second degree.
The
prosecution countered that Andregg willfully, deliberately and with
premeditation, killed David Johnson, without lawful justification or
excuse and that nothing the defense had presented or argued provided
justification for what was done to David Johnson.
Judge
Pestak ruled that the state had met its burden in proving probable cause
that Sam Andregg murdered David Johnson in the first degree.
A
local attorney, not involved with the case, speculated that Andregg will
not go to trial but will enter into a plea agreement and that the state
will use its case against Andregg’s sister, Sarah, as leverage.
Sarah
Andregg, 23, who has been implicated in the case, waived her right to a
preliminary hearing and will face charges of disposing of stolen property
over $2,500, tampering with evidence, conspiracy to tamper with evidence
and making a false report.
The
attorney said also he does not believe Andregg was so naive that he
didn’t realize Johnson was a homosexual and that he was being invited to
Johnson’s home for a sexual encounter.
The
attorney said that if Andregg is convicted of a lesser charge than
first-degree murder, he may be sentenced to as much as 25 years in prison
but could, with good behavior, be out in only five years.
<<<
>>>
|
