Opinion ID: 1122547
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: The murder of Greg Rambo, and the disposal of his body

Text: Although the present appeal does not involve defendant's conviction for the murder of Greg Rambo (see fn. 2, ante ), the jury heard evidence, summarized below, related to that murder. Much of this evidence was introduced by the defense during its cross-examination of prosecution witnesses, in an effort to undermine the witnesses' credibility by introducing evidence of their odd behavior, complicity, and deception in the aftermath of Greg Rambo's murder. Susan Rambo testified (on cross-examination) that her husband had pistol-whipped her and placed a handgun to her head on January 23, 1985, because he was angry over her failure to notice a pickup truck that had parked in their backyard. She testified: He told me he would give me five minutes to get my stuff and get out. The Rambos separated, and Susan went to live with her parents in Parkfield. Susan Rambo further testified that she last had seen her husband alive on February 19, 1985  on an occasion when he was in a rage. On the following day, defendant telephoned her to say her husband would never bother her again. She feared defendant's comment meant her husband was dead. Defendant requested that she acquire a tarp or some other object that could be used to dispose of various items (which he did not identify), and she obtained a sleeping bag. Defendant also asked to borrow her father's bulldozer to dig a hole, but her father refused. Harlyn Codd testified that in February 1985 defendant telephoned him and said, Greg's dead. I killed him. According to Codd, defendant told him he had shot Rambo three times. [8] Because Codd was intoxicated at the time of defendant's telephone call, Codd refused defendant's invitation to visit him that day in Parkfield. Codd met defendant the following day, and the two of them went to Parkfield to retrieve Greg Rambo's body from a shed. Codd testified that defendant feared Rambo was going to be a snitch and he offed him. Rambo's body was wrapped in a sleeping bag and a blanket when Codd saw it. Resolving to move the body at a later date, defendant and Codd proceeded to defendant's trailer, where defendant freebased cocaine. Codd also ingested cocaine in order to remain awake, because he did not trust defendant. Codd further testified defendant said he wanted to cut [Rambo's body] up, stick dynamite in him and blow it up, cut his hands off, knock his teeth out, disfigure him to leave no identification marks or anything ... so [Rambo] couldn't be identified. Instead, the pair drove to Tulare County, deposited Rambo's body in an orange grove, and returned thereafter to Codd's residence. The following morning, Codd and defendant retrieved Rambo's body, transported it to an isolated section of the county, and dumped it in a ravine known as Deer Creek Canyon. Codd acknowledged selecting the site and on cross-examination stated that after defendant's arrest, he led sheriff's deputies to the spot where he and defendant had dumped the body. [9] Wayne James testified that at some point after selling defendant a vehicle in February 1985, defendant threw him a spent.38 cartridge, telling James it was the shell that had killed Greg Rambo. Defendant informed James that he and Harlyn Codd had disposed of Rambo's body the previous evening in a ravine located outside Porterville. On March 3, 1985, in view of Greg Rambo's extended absence from the Shandon residence he had occupied with his wife Susan, she filed a missing person's report with the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Department. She testified on cross-examination that despite her awareness (on that date) of evidence suggesting her husband's violent demise, she nonetheless was not certain at that time that he was dead, and simply did not know where he was. She acknowledged being the beneficiary of her husband's $100,000 life insurance policy, and telling defendant she needed to locate her husband's body in order for her to be able to collect the insurance proceeds. Susan Rambo also acknowledged that after cleaning up the Parkfield shed that had concealed her husband's body prior to its removal by defendant and Harlyn Codd, she assisted friends in searching for her husband. She acknowledged telephoning her husband's answering machine several times in the presence of other persons in an effort to fool them into believing she was attempting to locate him. She testified she engaged in the foregoing unusual activity and refrained from calling the authorities, because she feared defendant, Whittington, and Whittington's brother, Bill, each of whom, she said, carried machine guns and automatic weapons.