http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_7697294

Ashton Hurst killed his stepfather because he was trying to do the one thing in the world Hurst could not live with: Separate him from his mother, a prosecutor told a jury this week.

Contrary to Hurst's claims, Robert Gauci was not a pervert who sexually assaulted Hurst, Deputy District Attorney Jeff Stodel said during closing arguments Monday and Tuesday.

Gauci simply didn't want the 33-year-old man, whom he described to friends as a "freeloader," "loser" and "drug addict," living with him and his wife in their Torrance home anymore, Stodel said.

But Henry Salcido, Hurst's defense attorney, chastised the prosecutor for backing away from his original theory - that Hurst killed Gauci after he had a delusion that Gauci sexually assaulted him - in favor of the eviction motive that arose midway through the monthlong trial.

"What makes more sense - that Ashton will kill Gauci because he is evicting him or that Gauci sexually assaulted Ashton?" Salcido asked. "It is so simple."

Hurst, now 36, is charged with murdering Gauci, 44, on Feb. 8, 2005, by stabbing him six times in the back of the neck at the end of a fight that began inside the home in the 2200 block of 232nd Street.

Hurst, who has a mental illness that causes him to believe men are gay and want to rape him, has given varying accounts as to the genesis of the altercations, as well as the details of the battle itself.

But Stodel used Hurst's own words and actions to argue to the jury that Hurst committed first-degree murder, and did not kill in self-defense.
The night of Gauci's death, Hurst told his mother, Melba Gauci, that he got a butcher knife from the kitchen.

Stodel reminded the jury that a police officer testified that Hurst would have had to travel approximately 140 feet round trip to retrieve the knife and return to the front lawn where Gauci lay.

Hurst told his family he stabbed Gauci because he didn't think anyone would believe him and he didn't want to go to jail, and because he didn't want Gauci to live with brain damage.

This showed deliberation as well as premeditation on Hurst's part, Stodel argued. Both are necessary for a conviction of first-degree murder.

If the Torrance Superior Court jury of five women and seven men acquits Hurst of first-degree murder, which carries a mandatory sentence of 25 years to life, they can still consider lesser charges of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter.

Since the night of the killing, Hurst has "rehearsed, prepared and lied" about the "kung fu"-style fight to have it appear that Gauci was the aggressor who introduced the knife, Stodel argued.

But even in some of his later statements, Hurst acknowledges that Gauci was "knocked out" when he stabbed him.

During the fight, Hurst hit Gauci with a 5-pound dumbbell and stomped and kicked on his head and body, leaving Gauci bleeding profusely and curled up in a fetal position with brain matter coming out of his head at the time he was stabbed, Stodel said.

At least a dozen things point to the fact that Hurst didn't kill in self-defense, Stodel said. Among them:

Gauci was stabbed in the back of the neck, which shows he was not attacking or the aggressor.

Hurst admitted to his mother that he started the fight.

He told his mother and sister why he stabbed Gauci - and it didn't have anything to do with fearing him.

Gauci had defensive wounds, while Hurst was barely injured, but for a few scratches.

The law says that the right to defend yourself ends the moment the threat of death or injury stops, Stodel reminded the jury.

"He has completely incapacitated his victim," Stodel said. "At that point, there's no imminent threat."

Historically, Hurst's mental issues would grow worse during times he wasn't living with his mother, Stodel said.

When he's apart from her, he is "a ticking time bomb," Stodel said.

So it's key evidence that Harbor College baseball coach Marc Alvillar testified that, an hour before Gauci was killed, Gauci told him he was going to go home and evict Hurst.

Alvillar's testimony was corroborated by Gauci's colleagues and friends, who said Gauci was frustrated with his stepson and wanted him out of the house in the months before he died.

Salcido, though, asked the jury to disregard Alvillar's testimony, suggesting that he lied on the witness stand - either because the passage of time mixed up his memory or because he's biased.

"Alvillar is now remembering what he wants to remember because he wants to help," Salcido said, acknowledging that Alvillar came forward after he read about the trial in the Daily Breeze.

In the first two hours of Salcido's closing argument, he barely mentioned the incident or Hurst's mental issues. Instead, he focused on why he thinks the jury should find Mrs. Gauci credible, and why he thinks Gauci was a "liar, deceptive, thief and a cheat."

Mrs. Gauci, who now clearly believes in her son's innocence, said she was in a sexless marriage - and told police this information even when she thought Hurst was a liar the night he killed Gauci.

She also said their real estate portfolio of six properties was built on her money, and that she discovered after her husband's death that $100,000 she gave to Gauci for their retirement account was missing.

In addition, she also testified about an incident in 2001 where Gauci threatened her and she called 911 because she was scared. Police records corroborated her testimony.

However, Salcido noted that character witnesses called by the prosecution said Gauci told them he had normal sexual relations with his wife, had helped Hurst financially and was coming up with down payments for real estate.

"He was two-faced," Salcido said. "He was leading a deceptive life."

Salcido will continue closing arguments today and likely argue that Gauci was interested in sex with men - corroborated by about two-dozen images depicting homosexual or bisexual behavior that were found on his computer.