Long Beach murder trial begins for ex-Marines

Long Beach murder trial begins for ex-Marines
The Associated Press
Posted: 06/25/2009 11:11:43 AM PDT
Updated: 06/25/2009 03:02:35 PM PDT


LONG BEACH, Calif.—Trial has begun for two former Marines charged with getting a brain-damaged Iraq War vet to kill a Long Beach man in a dispute over a laptop computer.

Anthony Vigeant (vih-ZHANT') and Trevor Landers were in court Wednesday in Long Beach. The ex-Camp Pendleton Marines are charged with the 2007 murder of David Pettigrew.

Prosecutors contend he was shot when the men went to retrieve a laptop because Pettigrew had failed to pay them with an ounce of cocaine.

Authorities claim the men got former Cpl. Ramon Hernandez—who received severe brain injuries in a 2004 Iraq bombing—to kill Pettigrew.

Hernandez pleaded guilty to murder in April.

Landers had a previous trial that ended with a jury deadlock.

Vigeant and Landers face life in prison if convicted.
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_12688487