Defendant tries to discredit key witness in murder trial

Tuesday, April 27, 2004 | 9:38 a.m.

A woman on trial on a charge of murdering a man for his winning sports bet ticket used mental health records Monday in an attempt to discredit the state's key eyewitness.

District Judge John McGroarty approved the use of the sealed records for cross-examination only, and 35-year-old Bridget Pascua used them to paint Kimberly Crawford, 36, as a longtime cocaine user and prostitute who was bipolar and suffered from depression.

Crawford acknowledged all of that was true -- and she also said that her account of how Doyle Upson was killed was true as well.

Crawford testified Monday that she helped kill Upson on Jan. 25, 2001, in his downtown apartment. She said she did it to try to win the love and friendship of Pascua and Ralph Crispin, an alleged drug dealer who has not been charged in Upson's death. Crispin may yet be charged in connection with the killing, prosecutors said.

"I wanted to be Ralph and Little Fawn's friend," Crawford testified, referring to Pascua by her nickname. "I had to prove I could kill somebody."

Crawford testified that she, Crispin and Pascua were all high on crack when they executed their plan to rob Upson of a $44,000 Stratosphere sports book ticket Upson said he had. Crawford said her job was to knock Upson out with a hammer while Pascua stole the ticket.

Instead, Crawford testified, she hit Upson in the head repeatedly with the clawed end of the hammer at the instruction of Pascua.

"Bridget said she wanted money, and if he couldn't come up with the answer (as to where the sports ticket was) to just keep hitting him," Crawford testified.

Pascua ransacked the apartment in the 700 block of Casino Center Drive looking for the ticket or for money, Crawford said. When Pascua came up empty, she attempted to poison Upson by forcing Valium-laced water down his throat.

When that didn't work, Pascua repeatedly tried to strangle and smother Upson, Crawford said.

"She wanted him dead because she couldn't get him to answer where the sports ticket was, and there was no money to be found," Crawford testified.

Pascua placed a pillow over Upson's face, stood on his throat, placed caulking in his nose and mouth, stuffed a sock in his mouth and then pulled a rope around his throat, Crawford testified.

The "torture" went on for about eight hours while Crawford, Pascua and Crispin smoked crack, Crawford said.

Pascua, who is defending herself, maintains that Crawford and Crispin are framing her for Upson's death. Crispin invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate oneself during earlier proceedings and has refused to testify. His statement to police incriminates Pascua, Pascua said during opening arguments.

In her opening arguments, Pascua told the jury Crispin had threatened her, pressuring her into cleaning up the crime scene and that she was not in the apartment when Crawford beat Upson to death with the hammer.

On cross-examination by Pascua, Crawford admitted she was in love with Crispin and had asked him to marry her. She also said she had written him letters from jail.

Crawford also testified that she thought Pascua had "snitched her out" and that she should be punished for Upson's death "because she was there and she was part of it."

Crispin, however, should not be punished, Crawford said on cross-examination.

"He didn't strangle, or put caulking (in Upson's nose and mouth) or a pillow (on Upson's face), he didn't do anything," Crawford said. "He was just there."

Crawford pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder in February 2003 and is now serving 20 years to life under the terms of her guilty plea agreement. Pascua faces 40 years to life if convicted.