Warrants detail stabbings at Calif. beach house

[September 03, 2010]  VENTURA, Calif. (AP) -- A 9-year-old boy ran to get cash from his mother's purse to appease an armed intruder, but when he returned the man was stabbing his parents with a kitchen knife in the bedroom, according to recently released search warrants in the triple murder case.

The documents provide details on the May 2009 slayings of Brock and Davina Husted, both 42, and their unborn child, according to a Thursday report in the Ventura County Star.

The couple's son told sheriff's detectives he helped his parents get cash from their wallets to give to the man wearing a black motorcycle helmet.

He also said his parents made the robber promise not to hurt him or his 11-year-old sister, who was sleeping, and the man agreed.

The boy said his parents ran toward their bedroom and the intruder followed. He heard his mother scream, then hid behind the living room couch until the man left.

The boy woke his sister and together, they checked on their parents' bodies. The children then locked the bedroom door and escaped through a window to a neighbor's home.

Joshua Graham Packer, 20, was arrested in April after authorities said DNA evidence linked him to the killings. He has been charged with three counts of murder and robbery with special circumstances that make him eligible for the death penalty. Prosecutors have not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty.

Packer pleaded not guilty in July. Trial is set for March 1.

A message left after business hours Thursday at the office of Packer's public defender, Gay Zide, wasn't immediately returned.

The boy gave detectives a detailed description of the suspect's clothing and said the suspect was a dark-skinned African American with blue eyes and a deep voice. Packer is white, but authorities maintain the suspect was wearing a motorcycle helmet.

Detectives served 18 search warrants and collected evidence from the victims' home and elsewhere that included telephone records, blood stains, fingerprints, DNA, clothing, human hairs, fibers, documents and clothing.

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Information from: Ventura County Star, http://venturacountystar.com/

[Associated Press]

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