Opinion ID: 2590211
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Murder and Sodomy of Michael Joseph Inderbieten

Text: In November 1978, Michael Joseph Inderbieten, then 21 years old, lived in Long Beach. He stood six feet five inches tall and weighed 160 pounds. On the evening of Friday, November 17, 1978, Inderbieten went with friends to a nightclub on the Pacific Coast Highway some three to five miles from his home. The driver of Inderbieten's group met a girl at the club and took her home, leaving the group stranded. Another girl agreed to drive Inderbieten and one of his friends home, and they got into her car, which was very full. A girl known as Cave Woman sat on Inderbieten's lap. He began to pinch her in not a very good area, and she slapped him. Inderbieten angrily got out of the car and declared he would walk home. His friends last saw him walking toward the Pacific Coast Highway in the direction of his home. About 6:15 the following morning, a passing motorist saw a body later identified as Inderbieten's on a transition ramp from Seventh Street leading to the 405 and 605 Freeway on-ramps in Long Beach. The body was dressed only in a pair of pants, which were pulled down, partially exposing his buttocks. The time of death was estimated at 6:00 a.m. The cause of death was determined to be anoxia due to suffocation. Inderbieten's eyes and nipples had been burned with a cigarette lighter. His scrotum and testicles had been removed as well as some skin from the penis. The removal of the testicles probably occurred while Inderbieten was still alive. There was no evidence of injury to the rectum, but the anus appeared to be slightly dilated, according to Dr. Richards, who reviewed Dr. Fischer's autopsy report, photographs and other material. There were ligature marks around both wrists but not the neck. The body bore road burns consistent with having been thrown from a vehicle traveling slowly. Inderbieten's blood-alcohol level at the time of death was 0.16 percent, and a low dosage of diazepam was found in his stomach. Secobarbital was found at a low level in Inderbieten's liver and blood. The combined effect of the alcohol and the secobarbital would have been deep sedation or sleep. Inderbieten consumed only a couple of beers at the nightclub while with his friends. Anal swabs were collected at the autopsy and, upon analysis, revealed the presence of blood type B spermatozoa and semen, which could have come from either a person with type B blood or a nonsecretor. Inderbieten had type B blood and was a secretor; defendant is a nonsecretor. Based on the location where the victim's body was found (i.e., near the 405 Freeway), the prosecutor argued to the jury that the entry DART 405 on defendant's list referred to Inderbieten, although he was unable to assign meaning to the word DART.