Opinion ID: 2590211
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Murder of Richard Allen Keith

Text: Richard Allen Keith, a 20-year-old United States Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton, stood six feet two or three inches tall and weighed about 190 pounds. On Sunday, June 18, 1978, Keith was visiting at his girlfriend's mother's house near the intersection of Avalon Boulevard and the San Diego Freeway in Carson, Los Angeles County. According to the girlfriend, Keith may have been under the influence of drugs at that time. He left the house around 11:00 p.m. Keith had no car and had hitchhiked to his girlfriend's house. At 5:15 a.m. the following day, a Los Angeles fireman discovered a nude body, later identified as that of Keith, lying off the side of Moulton Parkway one-half mile north of La Paz Road in Orange County. The body had been pushed out of a moving vehicle. The cause of death was ligature strangulation. Keith's blood-alcohol level at the time of death was 0.07 percent, and diazepam and flurazepam (a drug similar to, and somewhat more potent than, diazepam) were present in Keith's system in amounts sufficient to have rendered him very sleepy. The prosecutor argued to the jury that the entry MARINE CARSON on defendant's list referred to Keith, who, as noted, was a Marine and was last seen in Carson.