MURRIETA: Ex-deputy to stand trial in bar killing

A former Riverside County sheriff’s deputy will stand trial for murder in what prosecutors have called an unprovoked shooting at a Murrieta bar.

Dayle William Long, 42, whose bail is set at $1 million, was a 10-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department and a deputy in a downtown Riverside courthouse before his Dec. 21 arrest. He has pleaded not guilty.

Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Joe Borja said that, effective March 1, Long was not with the department.

Long is accused of fatally shooting 36-year-old Samuel Vanettes while off duty at Spelly’s Pub and Grille on Murrieta Hot Springs Road. Judge Timothy Freer ruled Monday, at the conclusion of a preliminary hearing, there is enough evidence to try Long.

Danny Burnside, 38, a witness and the boyfriend of Vanettes’ sister, testified at the Southwest Justice Center in French Valley that Vanettes held up his hands when Long pointed the gun at him.

“He said, ‘What are you gonna do? Shoot me?’ ”

Then Long opened fire, Burnside said.

Burnside said he, his girlfriend, Vanettes and their friend Chris had been hanging out and drinking before Vanettes was shot about 8 p.m. Long played darts with them earlier in the evening, Burnside said, and Vanettes invited him to join them at their table. But Long was drinking heavily and started making odd remarks and arguing about trivial things, Burnside said.

“Out of nowhere,” Burnside said, Long announced he was authorized to write a million-dollar check for any candidate who would run against Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone. Burnside said he asked Long what he did for a living and Long responded that he didn’t need to know.

When Vanettes mentioned a place where he used to live in Orange County, Long insisted the streets Vanettes named didn’t exist and called him a liar, Burnside said.

Words were exchanged and Burnside told Long he should leave, he said. Then, Burnside said, he noticed Long was holding a gun at his side and pointing it at him. Long told him he was a cop and to stay back, he said. Burnside said he was shocked at the sight of the gun, but felt somewhat relieved when Long identified himself as an officer.

When an employee told Long they were calling 911, Burnside recalled, “He said, ‘Good. Call 911,’” and announced they were all going to jail. Long accused them of assaulting him, shoving and arguing with his friend Chris, Burnside said.

Then Long turned to Vanettes, who was several feet away, and pointed the gun at him, Burnside said. Long started shooting without warning, firing four or five shots in quick succession until Vanettes fell to the ground, Burnside said.

Deputy Public Defender Jeff Zimel raised questions about Burnside’s credibility.

Defense attorney Leah Kisner probed for signs of aggression on the part of Vanettes and his friends, pointing out that some witnesses said Chris was “amped up.”

When Murrieta police arrived a few minutes after the shooting, they encountered Long outside and detained him, Officer Steve Whiddon testified. Vanettes was lying dead in a pool of blood on the barroom floor, a bullet hole in his cheek, he said.

Sgt. Phil Gomez testified that a witness told police he pleaded with Long to put down the gun after the shots were fired.

Gomez said Long replied, “It’s OK. I’m a cop.”

 

FRENCH VALLEY: Retrial under way in Wine Country killing

A 61-year-old former Temecula businessman accused of fatally shooting a man at a Wine Country bed and breakfast inn in 2010 is again on trial for murder after a jury deadlocked on the charge last year.

Louis Di Bernardo was convicted in December of kidnapping and making criminal threats in the case involving the shooting death of Victor Borcherds.

Di Bernardo has pleaded not guilty.

He testified during his first trial that he shot Borcherds by accident while attempting to evict him and his wife for unpaid rent.

Testimony in the retrial got under way Thursday at the Southwest Justice Center in French Valley, with Borcherds’ widow, Suzanne Borcherds, again taking the stand to describe her ordeal.

Victor Borcherds, 60, and his wife had leased the Castle bed and breakfast inn from Di Bernardo but the two parties became embroiled in a bitter lawsuit over the Loma Ventosa lane property.

Prosecutors said Di Bernardo entered the Castle unannounced May 12, 2010, tied up Suzanne Borcherds and then threatened to kill her, her husband and their lawyer.

Victor Borcherds returned home two hours later to find his wife in a bedroom being held at gunpoint by Di Bernardo, prosecutors said.

Di Bernardo fired four shots, one of which struck Victor Borcherds in the stomach, prosecutors said.

 

DAD: French Valley man among Marines killed in crash

A Marine Corps helicopter pilot who lived in the French Valley area near Murrieta was one of the seven Marines killed in a collision of two helicopters during nighttime training, his father said.

James Everett, of Fresno, told the Fresno Bee that his 33-year-old son, Sgt. Justin Avery Everett, was a 10-year Marine Corps veteran who served two tours in Iraq and was scheduled to go to Afghanistan in July.

Family members gathered at the father’s Fresno home on Thursday.

The Marine Corps hasn’t released the names of those killed.

James Everett says his son grew up in Fresno and was a wrestler at Reedley High School.

Justin Everett is survived by his wife, a 5-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son.

The AH-1W Cobra and a UH-1 Huey crashed Wednesday night in the California desert.

 

MURRIETA: Teen’s second attack sparks first victim’s anger

A woman who was jumped and beaten last year by a 16-year-old boy lurking in the ladies restroom at a Murrieta Chuck E. Cheese restaurant says the teen has struck again, groping a woman who was walking across a playground with her two young children.
The boy, now 17, admitted to sexual battery and child endangerment Tuesday in juvenile court at the Southwest Justice Center in French Valley, less than a year after admitting to assault and false imprisonment in the Chuck E. Cheese’s incident, said Nora Reynoso, of Menifee, the woman in the first attack.
Reynoso, 40, was visiting Chuck E. Cheese’s at Hancock Avenue and Los Alamos Road a year ago today with her boyfriend and 2-year-old granddaughter. When she walked into the restroom, a young man burst out of a stall, grabbed her and threw her to the ground, she said.
He climbed on top of her and pummeled her before she could escape, Reynoso said. Her boyfriend held the teen until police arrived and arrested him.
Reynoso said she was dismayed when the teen was sentenced to time served in the attack, but she was even more alarmed when she learned he had attacked another woman Aug. 31.
Reynoso didn’t hear about it until she was called to testify against the teen Tuesday in juvenile court at the Southwest Justice Center in French Valley.
“I’m angry at this point. Obviously, there’s no consequences, so he did it again,” Reynoso said. “How many times do you think he has done this and just not got caught?”
Murrieta police disclosed the groping and arrest at the time, and said the teen was on felony probation. But they did not specify that he was the same person in the Chuck E. Cheese’s attack. His name was not released because he is a minor.
This week, the woman in the second case, 20-year-old Beatriz Martinez, of Murrieta, spoke publicly for the first time about the attack.
Martinez said she had gone to pick up her two children, both younger than 3, from her mother at the Rancho Las Brisas Apartments on Los Alamos Road and Hancock Avenue. It was mid-afternoon as she headed back to her car.
Crossing the playground in the complex courtyard she was grabbed and held from behind, Martinez said. The attacker groped her breasts and rubbed his body against her for several seconds while her children looked on, Martinez said. When she managed to pull away, he shoved her, knocking her 2-year-old son, to the ground.
Martinez said the teen ran, turning to laugh at her as he left. She cursed him but could not chase him because of her children.
“My son was crying,” she said.
The next day, Martinez and her husband went looking for the suspect around Murrieta Mesa High School. They found him walking not far from the school. Her husband got out of the car and tried to grab him but the teen ran. Martinez said she called the police and yelled at the teen.
“I told him, ‘Do you remember me?’ ”
Her husband chased him down and held him until officers arrived, she said.
Reynoso and Martinez said the teen was sentenced Tuesday to 60 to 120 days in Juvenile Hall and will be released after 60 days if he behaves well.
Riverside County district attorney’s officials could not confirm or deny that information — or even acknowledge the case’s existence.
John Hall, a spokesman for the district attorney, said the law prohibits public disclosure of information about most juvenile court cases.
For some serious offenses, such as murder, assault or rape, authorities may disclose limited information, including the minor’s name, charges and the outcome of the case. Hall confirmed those details in the Chuck E. Cheese’s attack because the charges meet the criteria for public disclosure.
The Press-Enterprise generally does not identify minors accused of crimes if their cases are adjudicated in juvenile court.
Reynoso said the judge had harsh words for the teen, who turns 18 in a couple weeks, telling him that if he offends again he will face prison.
“He’s not going to stop,” Reynoso said. “I think he’s sick in the head.”
Martinez agreed.
“Of course he’s going to do it again,” she said.
Martinez said the teen lives in the same apartment complex as her mother. She warned neighbors about him, but worries about what he might do next.
The women said they are frustrated over the protections afforded the boy because he is a juvenile.
“We have to be aware. He’s in our community,” Reynoso said. “They’re protecting him more than they’re protecting us.”