Opinion ID: 2631133
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The murders of Gerald Skillman and Steven Rita

Text: Douglas Gattenby had been friends with murder victims Gerald Skillman and Steven Rita for years and previously had used drugs with them. Skillman was a smalltime marijuana and methamphetamine dealer, and Gattenby had worked with him in distributing methamphetamine. Skillman lived with his mother and brother on Bannock Road in the City of Westminster, in Orange County. He typically delivered drugs to his customers but occasionally sold them directly from his home to friends. Gattenby had known codefendant Timothy Wynglarz for about 18 years but had not socialized or used drugs with him. A few months before the two murders, Gattenby saw defendant and codefendant Wynglarz at the house of one John Benno, known to Gattenby as a methamphetamine user. On May 4, 1993, around noon, Joseph Burkhart was working in his front yard on Bannock Road, two houses from Skillman's, when he saw codefendant Wynglarz drive up in a red dual-wheel pickup truck and park in front of Skillman's house. At that time, Gattenby was repairing a lawn mower in Skillman's front yard. Wynglarz asked Gattenby where Skillman was. Gattenby said Skillman was inside the house and told Wynglarz to just go in. Wynglarz went inside but came out a few minutes later. He asked Gattenby to tell Skillman he was going to a store and would return shortly. Gattenby went inside and relayed the message to Skillman, who was upstairs with Rita. Burkhart saw Wynglarz drive away and return in the same red truck about 10 minutes later. Around this same time, Michael Johnson, a street sweeping supervisor with the Westminster Department of Public Works, saw two men sitting in a red dual-wheel pickup truck parked under a freeway overpass, less than a minute's drive from murder victim Skillman's house. Johnson saw the passenger bend forward as if to reach for something and then lean back in his seat. The driver and the passenger then both looked in the area of the center console, after which they drove off toward Bannock Road (where Skillman lived). Johnson later identified codefendant Wynglarz from a photo lineup as the man he had seen in the driver's seat, and his description of the passenger matched defendant's. Around the time codefendant Wynglarz returned in the red truck to Skillman's house on Bannock Road, Harold Hamilton, who lived across the street, saw defendant walking on the sidewalk near Skillman's house. Defendant nodded at Hamilton, who noticed a red dual-wheel pickup truck parked in front of Skillman's house. While Skillman, Gattenby, and Rita were upstairs in Skillman's house, Gattenby heard a knock on the front door. Rita went downstairs to answer it. At that point, Hamilton saw Rita and codefendant Wynglarz on Skillman's front porch and then saw defendant step onto the porch. Defendant and Wynglarz grabbed Rita by the back of his shirt and pushed him into the house, slamming the door shut behind them. Hamilton heard sounds like someone inside the house was being thrown around, and he told his mother, Nikki Pillon, to call 911. She did so at 12:15 p.m. Meanwhile, Gattenby, who was upstairs with Skillman, heard a scuffle downstairs. Skillman ran downstairs. A few seconds later, Gattenby came halfway down the stairs and saw Skillman lying on his side on the living room floor near the front door. Defendant was straddling Skillman and pointing a handgun at Rita, who was on the sofa about five or six feet away. Codefendant Wynglarz was standing near the front door. He did not have a weapon and did not appear to be frightened. Neither Skillman nor Rita had a weapon, and neither was threatening Wynglarz or defendant in any way. When Gattenby saw defendant's gun, he turned around and ran up the stairs. As he did, he heard Skillman say, This is my mother's house. You don't have to do this, guys. Defendant replied, I ain't taking your shit. Gattenby then heard three or four gunshots. Across the street, Hamilton heard gunshots and estimated they had been fired about 45 seconds after he saw defendant and codefendant Wynglarz push Rita into the house. Codefendant Wynglarz ran upstairs after Gattenby, telling him to get back, get back.. Gattenby ran into Skillman's bedroom and escaped by jumping through the bedroom window. He ran to Burkhart's yard and from there saw defendant and codefendant Wynglarz leave Skillman's house. Defendant was carrying a bag made of canvas or paper. From across the street, Hamilton saw Wynglarz drive off in the red pickup truck, together with defendant. Hamilton's mother, Pillon, saw Wynglarz leave the house with defendant and drop something into a small, nylon-like bag that caused the bag to bow[ ] under the object's weight. She described the object as having the length of a gun. After defendant and codefendant Wynglarz had left, Gattenby returned to Skillman's house to check on Skillman and Rita. Skillman was lying on his side in a puddle of blood near the front door, bleeding profusely from the right side of his head. Rita was lying on his back, making gurgling sounds and murmuring.