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People v. Kraft8/10/2000
ego Freeway, near the spots where the bodies of Moore, Inderbieten and Church were found. (The evidence that defendant murdered Church was particularly strong, as a photograph of Church was found in defendant's car and Church's electric shaver was found in defendant's house after his arrest. The jury could consider the proximity of the location of the victims' bodies as evidence the same person killed all four men.) Additionally, although Wiebe had a low blood-alcohol level and no drugs in his system at the time of his death, unlike most of defendant's other victims, Wiebe was smaller and lighter than the others. Further, an entry on defendant's list ("7TH ST.") could reasonably be thought to correspond to Wiebe.
g. "John Doe Huntington Beach"
This unidentified victim fit the physical profile of defendant's typical victim, being a young White male of about average size, the cause of death was suffocation, his wrists bore ligature marks, he had been emasculated and dumped from a moving vehicle, his shoes were missing, and there was no belt in his pants. This victim had a blood-alcohol level of 0.07 percent and assertedly was represented on defendant's list by the entry "AIRPLANE HILL"; the prosecutor presented evidence that the location where this victim's body was found had been known as Airplane Hill when defendant was growing up in the vicinity. Based on the foregoing evidence in the context of this case, the jury reasonably could conclude defendant murdered this victim.
h. Moore
Based on the cause of death and certain other details of the offense in the context of this case, the jury reasonably could conclude defendant had murdered Moore. Specifically, Moore died as a result of ligature strangulation; his body had been dumped from a moving vehicle in the area of the Seventh Street off-ramp from the 405 and 605 Freeways, near where the bodies of Wiebe, Inderbieten and Church would later be found; a sock had been inserted into his rectum and one foot was bare, as with victim Wiebe and somewhat similar to victim Loggins, to whom defendant was linked by photographic evidence; and Moore assertedly was represented on defendant's list by the entry "EDM." (The victim's name was stenciled on his shorts.) Additionally, Moore fit the profile of defendant's typical victim, and he was a Marine.
We have no difficulty concluding that, despite variations among these offenses, which spanned almost seven years, the jury reasonably could find defendant guilty of the murder of Crisel, Inderbieten, Klingbeil, Keith, Young, Wiebe, "John Doe Huntington Beach," and Moore.
2. Sufficiency of Evidence-Loggins Homicide
Defendant contends the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction for the murder of Robert Wyatt Loggins, Jr., noting a coroner's investigator originally classified the death as due to an accidental overdose of drugs based on the lack of external trauma to the body. Defendant also argues that because the record lacks sufficient proof of criminal agency in Loggins's death, the list entry assertedly pertaining to Loggins ("MC HB TATTOO") should have been excluded.
Addressing the latter question first, we have no trouble concluding the corpus delicti rule was satisfied here. "In any criminal prosecution, the corpus delicti must be established by the prosecution independently from the extra-judicial statements, confessions or admissions of the defendant. [Citations.] The elements of the corpus delicti are (1) the injury, loss or harm, and (2) the criminal agency that has caused the injury, loss or harm. [Citation.] Proof of the corpus delicti need not be beyond a reasonable doubt; a slight or prima facie showing is su
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