Opinion ID: 2518586
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Events of March 31, 1985

Text: Amalia Halvorsen testified that on March 31, defendant left the house at 6:00 a.m, returned at 9:30 a.m., and then left again. She expected him home at 6:00 p.m. that evening for a dinner engagement with Wendell West and his wife. West called several times that day to see if defendant was home in order to confirm their dinner plans. Finally West told Amalia to tell defendant they would get together another day. William Destro testified that on a Sunday in March 1985, from sometime between noon and 1:00 p.m. to about 5:00 p.m., he played pool and discussed a possible business deal with defendant at the Anchor Inn, a bar in Long Beach. When Destro first saw defendant, defendant's speech was slurred and he appeared to have been drinking; defendant drank beer throughout the afternoon. Destro wanted to buy 100 gold chains from defendant at $400 each and resell them at a profit. Defendant indicated the chains were on a ship in the harbor. Both defendant and Destro were to put up substantial deposits to get a sample of 10 to 15 chains, which Destro would have tested the next day. If the chains proved to be of the quality Destro desired, he would purchase the balance of the 100 chains. Defendant's share of the deposit money was in checks, a handful of which Destro saw, and which defendant asked the bartender at the Anchor Inn to cash. The bartender, who was Destro's wife, told defendant she did not have authority to cash a $1,500 check and tried to contact the manager for approval. Over the course of four hours, while waiting for the manager to arrive and approve the transaction, Destro and defendant played about 10 games of pool, eventually playing for double or nothing. Destro testified he won all of the games, and by the end of the afternoon defendant owed him $9,000. Defendant behaved in an increasingly loud, erratic fashion, slapping his pool cue against the table and cursing, kicking the pool table, and pushing bar stools. His behavior seemed out of proportion to the circumstances. People at the bar told defendant to calm down and warned Destro that defendant was the kind of fellow that you don't want to beat at pool. Several times Destro told defendant to forget about the wager, but defendant would insist on playing another game to get even. As the afternoon wore on, Destro came to believe he had wasted his time because defendant did not have the money for the deal. Destro left the Anchor Inn with his wife about 5:30 p.m. or 6:00 p.m. Destro felt bad about beating defendant at pool because defendant was intoxicated, and he told defendant to forget about the $9,000 debt. Defendant insisted he would pay Destro when he got his checks cashed. Destro was certain defendant was the person he had met at the bar because, when he returned to the Anchor Inn a couple of days later, the manager showed him a newspaper article about the shootings. About 8:00 p.m. or 9:00 p.m. on the evening of the shootings, Amalia Halvorsen received a telephone call from a doctor, who informed her that defendant was in the hospital. He had been stabbed in the neck and was in critical condition.