PORT ANGELES — Nicholas Cannon Stimbert came to Port Angeles near the end of 2004 to make money to rent an apartment.
“I was selling crystal meth,” Stimbert said Thursday in the first-degree murder trial of Robert Gene Covarrubias, 25, who is accused of killing 15-year-old Melissa Leigh Carter in December 2004.
“It wasn’t the right thing, at the time.”
A parade of young people, mostly in their late teens and early 20s, helped Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney Deborah Kelly piece together conflicting accounts of what happened at a party Stimbert threw in his Chinook Motel room on East First Street on Dec. 23, 2004, during the fourth day of testimony in Covarrubias’ first-degree murder trial.
Covarrubias has pleaded not guilty.
About 10 people attended the December 2004 party, according to witnesses.
The party was attended by Carter, known to friends as “Messa,” and was the last place they saw her alive.
After a violent fight with her boyfriend over his drug use, Carter left the party alone, witnesses said.
Witnesses said another person of the party, Covarrubias — known as “Rob” — left and followed after her.
Carter’s body was discovered the day after Christmas off Waterfront Trail east of downtown Port Angeles.
Carter’s body was naked and battered, the victim of a brutal attack, an expert testified earlier this week.
Discrepancies cited
On Thursday, defense attorneys sought to expose discrepancies between statements witnesses gave to the court and to police investigators, thereby undermining their credibility.
Witnesses testified that they ran into Covarrubias at the Lincoln Street Safeway earlier on Dec. 23, 2004. He said he had some beer and asked if a group of the friends wanted to drink it with him.
Not all of the party-goers attended Stimbert’s party to buy his low-quality methamphetamine — which was the reason he threw the party, he said — but most were familiar with the drug.
Some witnesses said Carter smoked pot at the party; others said she didn’t. Most witnesses said that she didn’t drink and all said she didn’t use meth.
One witness could barely remember the events of the evening, but testified that she saw Covarrubias after Carter had disappeared and his behavior didn’t appear to be strange.
“He was just a guy,” said Jayde Rector.
Another witness was told to return Monday morning sober or else risk a contempt of court charge.
Christina Garver, who briefly attended the December 2004 party, repeatedly denied that she was under the influence of drugs in the courtroom.
Clallam County Superior Court Judge George Wood offered to give her a urine analysis.
“I don’t think you want that,” Wood said.