Opinion ID: 2590211
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Murder of Eric Herbert Church

Text: Around 11:00 a.m. on January 27, 1983, a California Department of Transportation worker discovered the dead body of a young man, later identified as Eric Herbert Church, off the shoulder of the on-ramp to the northbound 605 Freeway from Seventh Street in Long Beach. The body was clothed and wore burgundy colored socks but no shoes. It appeared to have skidded to the spot where it was found. Death was estimated to have occurred at least 12 hours before the body was found. The cause of death was asphyxia due to ligature strangulation. Ligature marks were found on the victim's wrists as well as his neck. Church's blood-alcohol level at the time of death was 0.08 percent and his blood also contained 2.5 milligrams per liter of diazepam, a potentially fatal amount that would have put him into a mild to moderate coma. Using a microscope, infrared spectrophotometry, and thin-layer chromatography, criminalist White determined the fiber in Church's socks to be consistent in color, diameter, shape and dye with three balls of maroon fiber recovered from the front floor of defendant's car following his arrest. White also compared the fiber in the socks with a single fiber found on the body of victim Geoffrey Nelson and concluded the fibers were consistent in color and diameter. White further compared a photograph of Church's corduroy pants with a photograph, found in defendant's car at the time of his arrest, depicting a person wearing corduroy pants. White concluded that a series of three spots on the left leg of the pants and a loose thread at the corner of the watch pocket, each appearing in both photographs, established a match. White also compared photographs of a belt and a jacket, taken pursuant to search warrant from defendant's garage, with those depicted in the photographs taken from defendant's car, again concluding the items were the same. Church possessed an electric shaver that his father had repaired by knotting and soldering a wire. Church's father identified a shaver found in the search of defendant's garage as the one he had repaired. Church, 21 years old at the time of his death, stood five feet eight or nine inches tall and weighed 130 to 140 pounds. In defense, criminalist John Thornton testified a comparison of soil samples from Church's clothing and the location where his body was found with soil samples taken from defendant's car at the time of his arrest showed that the samples did not share a common origin. A photographic expert opined the person depicted in the photographs taken from defendant's car was not Church. Neither defendant's nor Church's fingerprints were found on the shaver identified by Church's father. Defendant's father also repaired electrical appliances.