Vitale Suspect Described as 'Goth' Loner

MARTINEZ, California (CNN) -- The teenage suspect in the beating death of a prominent lawyer's wife was described by classmates as a "gothic" loner who followed the occult and dressed in black from the polish on his fingernails to his trench coat.

The young man is being held as a juvenile in the slaying of Pamela Vitale, wife of lawyer and television pundit Daniel Horowitz. Police say he apparently acted alone.

Horowitz found Vitale's body when he returned to a trailer the couple shared while they built a dream estate on a hilltop in affluent Lafayette, east of Oakland.

Authorities said Vitale, 52, was bludgeoned by a strip of crown molding and fought with her killer. (See video about the arrest -- 4:35)

A gothic cross was carved into her back. That symbol may be a key link to the suspect.

"He was just really a gothic kid, and everyone knew who he was just because of his apparel. When you heard the name, you were just like, 'Oh, that kid,' " a classmate told CNN.

"He just definitely stood out in front of anybody in the school," the classmate added. "When he walked by, everybody talked about him -- like, he definitely didn't blend in."

Authorities would not identify the 16-year-old, and CNN is not naming him because of his age. But news outlets in the San Francisco Bay area widely publicized his name after his arrest late Wednesday.

Former classmates told The Associated Press that the teenager drew a pentagram on the ground at school, telling other students he was reading from the book of Satan.

Yeah. This is a good story, too, with more details:

http://sfgate.com/flat/archive/2005/10/27/chronicle/archive/2005/10/27/MNG38FEVFG18.html

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[snip]
.... "However, there are references to Fielding in the search warrants investigators obtained during their investigation. When authorities first questioned Fielding, she told them that her son knew he was already in trouble because of reports that he'd stolen credit card information from neighbors, and she had already retained an attorney to represent him.

According to an affidavit, Fielding spoke to her son the night of the murder and told him to spend the night at his girlfriend's house because of the blocked roads and police activity." ... [snip]
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Notice now Esther is taking responsibility for hiring McKenna--the story had been that Scott hired him on his own. Some wondered if a 16-yo could legally do that. I'm sure there are situations where they can, especially if you think of emancipation or abuse issues--but I don't know about "generally" the signing of the contract.

<> they filed for divorce, indicating that they were married <> Esther Fielding=step mother. Not Deenas mother. Fielding is "DNA lady". Resort is across the street. It's not much of a resort. <<"Amish-style" barn-raising they held publicly for the straw-bale house, I really wondered what kind of place Hunsaker Canyon was! >> the house looks perfectly normal. I saw it in the paper and thought it looked like a run down amish house... I've been on hunsaker a countless # of times over the years and i cant say i remember a point where it actually looked like that << So, evidently Ken and Deena had divorced prior to that.>> Ken didn't divorce his daughter... Denika was called Deena, like Kenneth is called Ken in this posting. <> he said he has helped him "over the years" even though he just turned 17 and has had no previous illegal history... perhaps thats why. As to why he said he helped him, i dont know. Maybe he'll explain that one day along with a plethora of other questions. <> Perhaps because there HAS to be more to it. It must be because he wore black. I mean obviously it must be. Oh and he had a satan bible, maybe it was even black. HIS F-ING WEIRDNESS HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT, SORRY! how the hell can you judge this based on his weirdness? The people at our school who wear Ugg Boots and a mini skirt in the middle of a rainstorm were weird to Scott im sure. Frankly, I agree with him. your background digging isn't doing much for anyone, although i do respect the fact that you are looking beyond what the media has said. Unfortunatley, the media obviously had the impact it was going for since this goth-loner-satanic-scary-5'5''-110lb-vegan-college student is just, i guess WAY TO WEIRD to be innocent.

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