Missing Weapon Surfaces in Liquor Store Murder Trial

A key piece of evidence in a murder trial officials thought was destroyed turned up intact, an investigator said today.

Officials believe the gun was used to kill Rafi Ibrahim, 34, of Temecula, and Kedran Howard, 23, of San Diego.

The black revolver was found in evidence storage at the sheriff’s station in Perris, said David Grande, a senior investigator with the Riverside County District Attorney.

Do to a paperwork mix-up, the gun was originally reported as destroyed during an evidence purged, Grande said. Staff at the station found it earlier this month.

The gun was also used in the accidental suicide of 18-year-old Keeyon Cross, a former running back for the Rancho Verde Mustangs, sheriff’s officials said.

To read more about the accidental suicide, .

Marcus Fletcher, 27, was accused of pulling the trigger in the killings. If convicted, he faces the death penalty.

Three lives, one gun

Fletcher and an accomplice, Dale Dante Thomas, a Temecula resident, allegedly planned the killings together, said prosecutor Sam Kaloustian.

Thomas struck a deal with the district attorney to testify against Fletcher in order to avoid the death penalty, though he implicated himself and Fletcher years earlier during interviews with investigators, Kaloustian said.

Thomas took the stand today in an orange prison uniform as his alleged former accomplice sat next to his attorneys in slacks and a collared shirt.

Fletcher used the gun to shoot Howard to death in January, 2005 to get even with him for a gang dispute, investigators testified.

To read about the killing, .

Fletcher then used the gun to kill Ibrahim in the robbery of Rancho Liquor on Old Town Front Street in April, 2005.

To read about the robbery, .

After the killing, Thomas took the gun and sold it to a friend. That friend let his football star friend hold it one day, and he accidentally shot himself in the head, sheriff’s officials reported.

Relevance of the gun

The gun is irrelevant for several reasons, said Miles Clark, an attorney defending Fletcher.

No testing was done to the weapon to match it with the bullets found at the crime scenes, he said.

Also, the only thing connecting the gun from the accidental suicide to the murders is Thomas’ testimony.

“He is not a credible witness,” Clark said. Thomas admitted to lying to investigators during four interrogations, he said.

Kaloustian had the gun reassembled and showed a picture of it to Thomas on Monday, who said it was the gun Fletcher used.

CLARIFICATION: Details describing the circumstances under which Thomas implicated himself and Fletcher and how Kaloustian showed Thomas the gun were added to the original version of this story on June 29 at 4 p.m.