Defense attorney focusing on cross-contamination in former Ben Lomond man's ...
SANTA CRUZ - A sheriff's deputy was called back to testify Thursday for a third time in the trial of a former Ben Lomond man accused of killing a woman and her unborn baby in 2006.
Michael McClish, 42, is charged with two counts of murder for the death of Joanna "Asha" Veil and her 7-month-old fetus. McClish had been Veil's manager at the grocery store they worked at and prosecutors have maintained the two had a personal relationship as well. At the time, McClish was married with three children and Veil had recently separated from her husband.
McClish's attorney, Thomas Wallraff, has contended that rumors and gossip led authorities to point the finger at his client, From early on in the trial, he's also posited that the investigation was marred by cross-contamination.
Deputy Robert Gidding of the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office was a detective with the crime scene investigation unit when Veil went missing on Sept. 9, 2006 after leaving work. He was one of the investigators on the scene five days later when Veil's body was discovered off a remote road in Ben Lomond.
Camporee honors legendary Scout leader
A legendary leader was honored Oct. 22 when Battleground District of Boy Scouts held the first Joe Ed Walker Memorial Camporee on a farm near Lattimore, not far from where Walker grew up.
While the smoke of campfires scented the crisp fall day, dozens of boys in khaki uniforms saluted the American flag as it was lowered near sundown while just as many former Scouts, leaders and family members saluted the memory of a man they revere as a mentor and friend. During his 10 years as Scoutmaster of Lattimore Troop #113, a record-setting 35 teenagers reached the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest award in scouting; hundreds of others learned the life lessons of a man remembered for always believing that the impossible is possible.
One of those Eagle Scouts, Wilson Brooks, played Taps as a hushed crowd watched from a green hillside while the honor guard lowered the flag, folded it precisely into a triangle and presented it to Donnis Walker, Joe Ed Walker’s widow, who held her husband’s red wool Boy Scout shirt with the troop number 113 embroidered on the sleeve. Their two sons, Michael and Braxton, both Eagle Scouts, stood nearby.