Bechler’s fate in jurors’ hands

Deepa Bharath

SANTA ANA -- Jury deliberations began Wednesday afternoon in the trial

of Eric Bechler, the Newport Beach man accused of murdering his wife

during a boating trip in 1997.

Officials said the jurors will continue their discussion today and

Friday, if necessary.

Defense attorney John Barnett wrapped up his closing statements

Wednesday morning, pointing out that the prosecution’s analysis of the

Bechlers’ financial records was “fundamentally unfair.”

Prosecutors allege that Bechler bludgeoned his 38-year-old wife,

Pegye, on a speedboat and dumped her in the ocean during an anniversary

cruise in July 1997. Deputy Dist. Atty. Debora Lloyd has argued that

Bechler murdered his wife to get his hands on her $2.5-million life

insurance policies.

Bechler continually has pleaded not guilty, saying that a giant wave

swept his wife off the boat she was driving while towing him on a

bodyboard.

On Wednesday, Barnett countered Lloyd’s argument, saying Bechler did

not empty his wife’s savings account as the prosecution alleged.

“The prosecutor ignored the fact that all the money was earned during

the marriage,” he said, as members of Pegye Bechler’s family seated in

the gallery shook their heads and smiled sarcastically at each other.

“They were equal partners in marriage and business,” Barnett argued.

“When Eric Bechler makes an investment, it’s half Pegye’s. It’s community

property. He didn’t spend all the money on himself.”

In her rebuttal, Lloyd questioned Barnett’s statements and asked why

22,000 pages of financial statements showed the Bechlers kept their money

separate.

“Why wasn’t it all in one, big, happy pot?” she asked, facing the

jury. “Why then did Pegye Bechler call the money she gave Eric Bechler a

‘loan?”’

Lloyd also said Bechler himself told investigators that his wife “hid

stocks” she owned from him.

Barnett concluded his closing arguments by talking about the reason

Bechler lied to his former girlfriend Tina New about killing his wife.

The defense has argued that Bechler told New, a star witness in this

case, that he murdered his wife because he wanted to fit into New’s

fantasy of being with “bad boys.”

“He let his libido control him,” Barnett said. “It’s not the first

time or last time somebody lies for sex. It’s just not unusual.”

Lloyd argued that New was attracted to Bechler because she thought he

was a “goody-goody” and not abusive or prone to commit crime like her

former husband or ex-boyfriend.

“Tina thought she’d got herself a good guy,” Lloyd said. “But she got

the worst.”

If convicted of first-degree murder, Bechler faces the possibility of

life in prison without parole.