Opinion ID: 1801741
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Ron Stadt

Text: While in the Navy, Ron Stadt and defendant became best friends. After leaving the Navy, they both lived in San Diego. In July 1992, Stadt separated from his wife Debra Stadt. He subsequently moved in with defendant, but did not stay there for long because he felt uncomfortable. In April or May 1993, Stadt discovered defendant was having an affair with Debra. Stadt intended to use evidence of the affair in his child custody dispute with Debra. On June 24, 1993, Michael Proo was at work with Stadt when he overheard Stadt talking to defendant on the telephone in a heated conversation. After the call, Stadt told Proo he was going to defendant's apartment to retrieve some personal items, perhaps jewelry, left there by Debra. Stadt and defendant had not been getting along, and Stadt was worried that defendant's offer to return the jewelry was a setup. Stadt asked Proo and Proo's wife to go with him, but they declined. Around 6:15 or 6:30 p.m., Stadt left the shop to go to defendant's apartment. Although Stadt was scheduled to work the next day, he never returned, not even to collect his paycheck. On June 24, 1993, about 6:20 p.m., Debra drove to defendant's apartment. She saw Stadt driving his truck in the alley to the apartments on Saranac, with defendant following in his own truck. Defendant saw Debra and told her in a fairly urgent tone of voice to leave. Debra complied. Neither she nor any of Stadt's friends, family members, or other contacts ever saw Stadt again. After June 24, 1993, Stadt's credit card accounts showed no cardholder activity. The next day, Debra asked defendant why he was with Stadt, since she understood the two were no longer talking to each other. Defendant said Stadt was at the apartments to pick up a ladder. On July 2, 1993, however, defendant told a detective from the Imperial Beach Sheriff's Department that Stadt came to his residence about 6:45 p.m. on June 24, 1993, to pick up jewelry Debra had left. After Stadt disappeared, defendant stated to Debra and other friends at various times that Stadt was killed in a fight, that he drove off into the sunset, that he was missing and would not be bothering Debra anymore, that he left because he did not want to pay child support, and that he was mountain lion food. Debra once indicated to defendant that if he had done anything to Stadt, then Stadt's body could be identified by his extensive dental work. Defendant responded that was the only thing he had forgotten, and it was the only mistake he had made. Debra testified that, after Stadt vanished, defendant was in possession of Stadt's key to Debra's car and a radar detector that had belonged to Stadt. Stacie Wickett and Gwytha Zelinsky testified that, after Stadt disappeared, defendant had called them using their unlisted telephone numbers. The women had not given these numbers to defendant but had shared them with Stadt, who presumably wrote them in his phonebook.