Opinion ID: 2632308
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Events Preceding the Murder

Text: Defendant, known as Moccasin Kurt from the moccasins he wore, was 22 years old on the date of the murder. After finishing high school he served for three and one-half years in the Marines, receiving a psychiatric discharge in 1987. Since leaving the Marines defendant had not been employed, living on income from drug sales and other illegal activities. Defendant was married briefly in 1985-1986 and had one child. In February 1987, he met 16-year-old Christina, who became his girlfriend. On the date of the murder Christina was confined at Broad Horizons, an adolescent rehabilitation facility, where she had been sent after being arrested for illegal possession of a concealed weapon. JoAnn Clemons, Christina's mother, had an apartment in Escondido. Her life was insured for $10,000, with an additional $10,000 for accidental death. Under the terms of the policy murder would be considered an accidental death. Her daughter Christina was the only beneficiary. In September of 1988 Christina was released on a weekend pass from Broad Horizons and stayed with her mother. During that weekend Christina obtained a key to the apartment from the building manager. She was released again on a weekend pass on September 29 and met with defendant. She told him she wanted her mother killed, and they discussed how to do it. In the fall of 1988, defendant, Mark Herbert, Darrin Popik, and Kimberly Platt were staying at the Oceanside apartment of Velinda Davis. On September 30, four days before the murder, Velinda Davis heard defendant tell Christina, Now we can knock off the old lady. Christina replied, And then we can get the money. That evening, defendant asked Mark Herbert if he wanted to go to Escondido to do a tax. (At trial, Herbert explained that a tax refers to collecting a debt plus something extrathe tax. The collection process usually involves force or the threat of force.) Defendant offered Herbert one-third of the proceeds, and Herbert agreed to participate. The same day defendant told Kimberly Piatt he was going to tax an old lady in Escondido who had been interfering too much in the lives of defendant and Christina. On October 1, Mark Herbert and Darrin Popik arranged for Joseph Paulk to drive the getaway car. Before they picked up defendant, however, Herbert decided not to participate in the crime. Defendant and Popik left, telling Velinda Davis they were going to Escondido to tax someone. After they left, Davis noticed that one of her kitchen knives was missing.