Opinion ID: 2590211
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Murder of Terry Lee Gambrel

Text: Around 1:00 a.m. on May 14, 1983, Sergeant Michael Howard and Officer Michael Sterling of the California Highway Patrol, on patrol together near Interstate 5 in the San Juan Capistrano area of Orange County, were driving northbound on the freeway south of Oso Parkway when they saw a car driven by defendant weaving in its lane. The officers pulled defendant over and, after conducting field sobriety tests, arrested him for driving under the influence. (The details of the arrest are discussed post, at pages 39-40, in connection with defendant's challenge to the search of his car.) Defendant told Sterling his passenger was a hitchhiker. While Sterling was placing defendant in the patrol car, Sergeant Howard knocked on the passenger window of defendant's car in an attempt to rouse the passenger, who appeared to be asleep or passed out. There was no response. Howard, entering the car through the driver's side, discovered the passenger, later identified as Gambrel, had no pulse and was not breathing. Upon lifting a jacket from Gambrel's lap, Howard observed that Gambrel's pants were unbuttoned and pulled down between his waist and his knees so that his penis and testicles were supported by the crotch of the pants. The crotch area was wet. There were indentations on Gambrel's wrists similar to those a wide rubber band would make. A pill vial, labeled Ativan and prescribed for defendant, lay on the floor between the driver's seat and door. A paramedic summoned to the scene asked defendant if Gambrel had taken any drugs; defendant replied he had given Gambrel some of his Ativan. The autopsy was performed by Dr. Walter Fischer, who was deceased at the time of trial. Dr. Robert Richards, who reviewed the autopsy photographs and Dr. Fischer's reports and testimony at the preliminary hearing, testified at trial that Gambrel's death resulted from asphyxia due to ligature strangulation. The ligature consisted of a strap that had been tightened around Gambrel's neck. There were also ligature marks on both of Gambrel's wrists. Petechial hemorrhages in the neck organs indicated the killer had repeatedly tightened and loosened the ligature. Autopsy photographs showed a bruise on Gambrel's lip. Gambrel's body apparently was missing shoes and socks when removed from defendant's car. Toxicological analysis showed Gambrel's blood-alcohol level at the time of his death was 0.067 percent. Also in Gambrel's blood was .07 micrograms per milliliter of lorazepam, an anti-anxiety drug sold under the trade name Ativan. Toxicologist Raymond Kelly testified those levels of alcohol and lorazepam would tend to make a person sleepy, confused and uncoordinated. Gambrel was 25 years old at the time of his death and was a United States Marine stationed at El Toro. He stood six feet one inch in height and weighed about 200 pounds. [2] Gambrel was engaged to be married. He was last seen alive on May 13, 1983, around 9:00 p.m., when he told his roommate he needed to find a ride and mentioned something about a party at a friend's house. Marine Sergeant Ronald Phillips had invited Gambrel to a house-warming party set for May 13, 1983, but Gambrel did not attend despite having said he intended to do so. Handwritten directions to the party were found in Gambrel's wallet after his death.