Opinion ID: 2590211
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Murder of Keith Daven Crotwell

Text: In March 1975, Keith Daven Crotwell was 19 years old, stood six feet or six feet one inch tall, and weighed 195 to 200 pounds. On the night of March 29, 1975, Crotwell and his friend Kent May, 15 years old, went to Big John's Fun Hall near Belmont Pier and the Olympic swimming pool in Long Beach. In the course of the evening, Crotwell and May, who had both been drinking, walked to a seawall near Big John's and talked about an argument Kent had just had with a girl. Defendant approached and began to converse with them. The area was frequented by homosexuals, and May asked if defendant were homosexual; defendant denied it, stating he was merely out for a leisurely stroll. Defendant offered drugs to Crotwell and May. They went to defendant's Mustang automobile, where he gave them pills with the number 10 imprinted on them. May took six or seven of the pills, Crotwell three or four more than May, downing them with beer. Defendant then drove off with Crotwell and May in his car. May then lost consciousness, waking up with a hangover the next morning at his home. Michael Ditmar and Randy Cooper, friends of Crotwell's, had also been at Big John's on the night of March 29, 1975, and sometime after 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. the next day they returned in Cooper's truck to the area of Big John's to look for Crotwell and May. In the Big John's parking lot, Ditmar saw a white Mustang with its passenger door open and defendant pushing May out of the backseat. May took a few steps and fell down. Defendant pushed May away from the car. Ditmar and Cooper yelled at defendant to stop and wait, but defendant drove off at a relatively fast speed toward Seal Beach with Crotwell in the front passenger seat, slumped toward defendant and possibly unconscious. Ditmar never saw Crotwell alive again. On May 8, 1975, two young boys discovered a human skull near a jetty in the Long Beach Marina about 1,000 feet from a parking lot. Through dental X-rays, the skull was later identified as Crotwell's. Following Crotwell's disappearance, Ditmar and Cooper looked for the Mustang in which defendant had driven off with their friend. They found it in Long Beach and forwarded information about the car to the Long Beach Police Department. Upon learning that the vehicle was registered to defendant, Detective Michael Woodward of the Long Beach Police Department contacted defendant and invited him to come to the police department for an interview. On May 19, 1975, Detective Robert Bell of the Long Beach Police Department interviewed defendant concerning Crotwell's disappearance. The tape recording of the interview was played to the jury. Defendant acknowledged he had, within the last couple of months, picked someone up in the Granada Avenue parking lot (which was near Big John's). Defendant described encountering two males in that location, drinking beer with them, driving around the Belmont Heights area for about 20 minutes, and returning to the parking lot, where one of the two got out of his car. The other wanted to remain in the car, so defendant drove away again, going southbound on the San Diego Freeway. Defendant said he allowed his passenger to drive, and the car became stuck on an embankment. Defendant walked to some gas stations, which were closed, and telephoned his other half, Jeff Graves, for assistance. Defendant then had coffee at the restaurant from which he had called Graves. Because Graves had only a Volkswagen, and may have been unable to assist him, defendant asked for help from a man and his wife at the restaurant, who had a pickup truck. The man drove defendant in the pickup truck back to defendant's car. The man who had been with defendant was no longer there. The man with the pickup truck used a rope defendant found to free the car. Defendant looked around unsuccessfully for the man who had been in his car. He then went back to the restaurant to wait for Graves, who arrived later. Defendant had to go to work the next day, and Detective Bell determined that defendant indeed did work that day. Bell was aware of cars becoming stuck in the area defendant described. Defendant denied killing Crotwell or disposing of his body. On October 19, 1975, some children in the City of Laguna Hills discovered skeletal remains, minus the skull and hands, wrapped in a rug in a large pipe. The remains were later identified as Crotwell's. The prosecutor argued to the jury that PARKING LOT on defendant's list referred to Crotwell. The defense presented evidence that on May 31, 1983, Jeff Graves told detectives that defendant had telephoned him early one morning, probably in May 1975, saying he had had car problems and needed help. Graves said he had gone to defendant's location and assisted him.