SACRAMENTO — Joyce Hullender and Katherine LeBas are two of the roughly two dozen witnesses in the UC Davis “sweethearts” murder case who have died since the murders occurred nearly 32 years ago.
But their testimony against another set of suspects in the case was brought back to life Thursday in Sacramento Superior Court as lawyers for Richard Joseph Hirschfield attempt to cast doubt that he kidnapped and killed students John Riggins and Sabrina Gonsalves on Dec. 20, 1980.
Both Hullender and LeBas testified at the preliminary hearings of the so-called “Hunt group,” a foursome prosecuted in the early 1990s under the theory that one of the defendants, David Hunt, orchestrated the murders to draw suspicion away from his brother, soon-to-be-convicted serial killer Gerald Gallego.
Charges against the Hunt group were dismissed in 1993 following the discovery of DNA evidence that excluded the three male defendants as donors.
A pretrial ruling made any mention of Gallego or the copycat premise off-limits, but Hirschfield’s attorneys are introducing prior testimony that points to Hunt and one of his cohorts, Doug Lainer, being seen in or near Riggins’ van around the time of the killings.
In her Sept. 27, 1990, testimony, which was read aloud in court Thursday, Hullender said she came upon the van on Folsom Boulevard near Hazel Avenue sometime between 10:30 and 11 p.m. on the night of Dec. 20, just after she left a holiday gathering at nearby Rudy’s Hideaway.
Hullander said she was “aggravated” because the van was blocking the traffic lane, so she stopped, got out of her car and peeked into the vehicle through the open driver’s side door.
“A lot of paper, a lot of junk” is what Hullender said she saw strewn about the van. “There was a baseball cap on the seat.”
Hullender said she then heard footsteps and ran back to her car, catching a glimpse of an “average-sized man” get into the van as she left.
Under cross-examination, Hullender acknowledged she had made no mention of seeing a man in her original statement to authorities, whom she called several days later in response to a newscast seeking information about the van.
It wasn’t until her 1987 interview with Davis police Lt. Fred Turner, whose investigation led to the Hunt group’s arrests, that she described seeing a man with eyes that “looked empty.”
“I simply didn’t think I knew enough to help anyone,” Hullender said.
Jurors also heard testimony from LeBas, who reported seeing Riggins’ van and its distinctive license plate, 3S MUM, on Watt Avenue near Arden Way on the day after the killings.
Her testimony conflicted with other witnesses who had seen the van parked on Folsom Boulevard starting on the night of the 20th and not moving until crime-scene investigators collected it two days later.
LeBas described herself as a “license-plate freak” who was drawn to the personalized plate. At one point, she pulled up alongside the van, which then made a U-turn to travel southbound.
As she stared after the blond-haired driver, “he looked straight at me and he made a face, like, ‘take a good look at me,’ ” LeBas recalled.
LeBas later identified Lainer out of a photo lineup provided to her by Turner.
Testimony continues this afternoon in Judge Michael W. Sweet’s courtroom.