Teen accused of casino slaying takes stand

Angie Wagner

Thursday, Feb. 5, 1998 | 11:25 a.m.

A calm, softspoken Jeremy Strohmeyer testified Thursday that he lied to a police officer about being read his Miranda rights because he didn't want to get another officer in trouble.

Strohmeyer, 19, of Long Beach, Calif. is accused of murder and sexual assault in the May 25 strangulation of Sherrice Iverson of Los Angeles. Her body was found in a restroom at the Primm Valley Hotel in Primm, southwest of Las Vegas.

The teen-ager was arrested on May 28, 1997, and taken to Long Beach Community Medical Center, where his stomach was pumped because he took 37 pills of Dexedrine, an amphetamine, in an apparent suicide attempt.

Strohmeyer, testifying during a hearing on whether a confession he made should be suppressed, said he was arrested while running from his home.

Strohmeyer contends that when he was placed in a car with Long Beach police Sgt. Walter Turley, Turley began asking him questions about the pills and the weekend slaying.

Strohmeyer said he asked for a lawyer twice, but Turley told him he did not want a lawyer because they just drag things out and would take his family's money.

Strohmeyer said Turley talked to him "like a father."

"It seemed like he was my friend. He was trying to help me."

After he was taken to the hospital and his stomach was being pumped, Strohmeyer said his stomach and left side began to feel numb because of the pills he had taken.

"I felt, I guess, the word's high. Everything started seeming to be surreal. It was like a dream," he said.

Strohmeyer said he was moved to a different room, where Turley and another officer began questioning him. Turley brought up a Los Angeles Times story mentioning Sherrice's father.

Turley has said Strohmeyer said, "If it were my daughter, I'd want my head on a platter."

Strohmeyer acknowledged Thursday that he did make the comment.

But, he contended he was never read his Miranda rights and didn't ask for a lawyer again because he didn't think his request would be recognized.

Strohmeyer also testified that no one told him a lawyer or his mother wanted to see him.

Mrs. Strohmeyer, 53, and her son's initial attorney, Doug Otto, testified Wednesday that they repeatedly tried to see the teen at the hospital and the police station and were told Strohmeyer didn't want to see them.

At another point in the hospital, Strohmeyer said he made the comment, "What about a lawyer" to Turley and the officer responded, "I guess you could go that route."

When Strohmeyer was taken to the Long Beach police station, Las Vegas Metro Police Detective Phil Ramos said, "You've been given your rights, right?"

Strohmeyer told him "yes."

When questioned by Clark County District Attorney Stewart Bell why he said "yes" if the rights hadn't been read to him, Strohmeyer said he didn't want to get Turley in trouble because he thought of him as a friend.

"At that point, I didn't think it really mattered," he said.

Strohmeyer admitted under cross-examination that he never told a nurse or doctor at the hospital that he wanted to see a lawyer. He also didn't tell them about his numbness.

Earlier Thursday, defense attorney Leslie Abramson spent about two hours questioning Ronald Siegel, a California psychopharmacologist, about the effects of Dexedrine.

Siegel, who studies the effects of drugs on behavior, said such a dose of 37 pills would produce "mood elevation, euphoria, nervousness and a propensity for talkativeness."

The defense is trying to prove that Strohmeyer was affected by the overdose when he confessed to the crime.

At one point, Abramson asked Siegel: "Were amphetamines used by guards of prisoners of war to get them to talk?"

District Judge Donald Chairez sustained a prosecution objection to the question.