Summations Given in Double-Murder Trial of Youth, 16

Calling the 16-year-old defendant a liar and a “person of violence and rage,” a prosecutor asked jurors Wednesday to find Michael Hrayr Demirdjian guilty of first-degree murder for the bludgeoning deaths of two boys on a La Crescenta school playground.

“In Mr. Demirdjian’s mind, truth and lies merge,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Steve Barshop, in his closing argument in Pasadena Superior Court. He asked jurors to reject the teenager’s defense that he was only a witness to the July 22 crime.

Defense attorney Charles T. Mathews said his client had lied to police, but said the teenager was truthful when he testified he didn’t harm Blaine Talmo Jr., 14, and Christopher McCulloch, 13.

“Here’s our killer: Adam Walker,” said Mathews, displaying police photos of the 19-year-old man, whom he described as a drug dealer who attacked Christopher and Blaine after an argument, as Demirdjian stood nearby in a drunken and stoned haze.

Mathews asked jurors to pay attention to photos showing wounds on Walker’s body, suggesting that the man had scuffled with the victims before they were viciously beaten with a large rock. Walker has not been charged in connection with the deaths and Barshop said he is not a suspect.

The closing arguments in the packed courtroom of Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Joseph F. De Vanon culminated the 2 1/2-week trial, summarizing the twists and turns of the bizarre case in which police say there are still more suspects.

A few days before the murders, Walker and two others allegedly cheated Demirdjian and another teenager, Damian Kim, out of $660 in a drug deal. Blaine had introduced Demirdjian to Walker, Barshop said.

In the five days between the botched drug deal and the slayings, Demirdjian and Kim called each other 47 times to plot revenge, Barshop said. Barshop added that Walker knew Demirdjian was after him so he would not have been with Demirdjian, Blaine and Christopher the night of the slayings--contrary to Demirdjian’s testimony.

Barshop asked jurors to consider a group of other youths that includes Damian Kim, Joseph Song and Marion Kim--whom prosecutors have named as suspects, but not yet charged.

A police dog identified Demirdjian’s scent out of a line-up of pads containing suspects’ odors collected at the crime scene, Barshop said. The dog connected Damian Kim with a rock used in the slayings and Song with the bench that crushed Christopher’s neck and chest, Barshop said. He added that the fingerprints of Marion Kim were found on a knife allegedly used in an attempted attack against Walker.

But Barshop also told jurors that this prosecution is not about Damian Kim, Song or Marion Kim. “This is Michael Demirdjian’s trial.”

Blaine had about $190 with him before but not after the killings, proving he was robbed, Barshop said.

Police found Blaine’s wallet in Demirdjian’s trash; Demirdjian testified that Walker threw the wallet at him after the slayings.

After Demirdjian’s arrest, police found a poem on his computer hard drive about killing someone with a big rock. The poem showed his violent state of mind, Barshop said. A co-worker of Demirdjian’s father also testified that Gary Demirdjian told her about how his adopted son broke furniture and attacked him and his wife.

“The defendant is a person of violence and rage,” Barshop said.

As for motive, Barshop said, “Is it robbery? Is it violence and rage? Is it another ambush?” Barshop then told jurors that motive is not necessary for a finding of guilt.

Mathews said that Demirdjian is not violent, adding that the boy lashed out against his parents two years ago in response to finding out he had been adopted.

The defense attorney said the teenager had been teased about looking different from his Armenian parents. Demirdjian, who is half white and half black, “didn’t fit” into La Crescenta’s white community, Mathews said, and argued that racism was why the investigation against Demirdjian was biased.

Police treated Walker differently because he was white, Mathews said, reminding jurors that one of Walker’s friends testified that he told police that “black people” committed the murders even though he had no proof.

Police executed multiple search warrants on Demirdjian’s house but didn’t search Walker’s home or the homes of several of his associates, Mathews said, even after a police dog tracked a scent from the crime scene to the house of one of Walker’s friends.

Mathews said Demirdjian played basketball with Blaine and Christopher hours before the killings, and another boy testified that they were laughing and seemed to be having a good time. “This young man had no motive [to kill],” Mathews said. “You must find him not guilty.”