CrimeWatch

SAN DIEGO (CBS 5 / AP) ― The 19-year-old son of former California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and three other men have pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges in the stabbing death of a college student from Concord.

Esteban Nunez entered his plea Thursday afternoon along with 22-year-old Ryan Jett and Rafael Garcia and Leshanor Thomas, both 19.

"I believe there are clear defenses in this case," lawyer Brad Patton, who represents Nunez, told a judge. Later, outside court, Patton said his client had acted in self-defense, but he did not elaborate.

San Diego Superior Court Judge David Szumowski set bail at $2 million for Nunez, Garcia and Thomas. He denied bail to Jett due to a previous conviction for possession of ammunition.

Witnesses who saw the fatal stabbing and its aftermath gave police a troubling portrait of Esteban Nunez.

One witness told police that Nunez and his friends were furious and vowed to get revenge on Oct. 4 after they were kicked out of a fraternity party near San Diego State University. Another said Nunez declared that he "got one of them" as his group left a fight later that night.

A third described Nunez trying to destroy evidence on the banks of the Sacramento River after returning home the day of the stabbing.

Prosecutor Jill DiCarlo cited that account in court, saying Nunez, Garcia and Jett went to the river banks hours after they committed the crime to burn clothing with gasoline and toss their knives into the water.

The four defendants stood in blue jail garb Thursday as their attorneys spoke on their behalf. Nunez and the three others were each charged with one count of murder, three counts of assault with a deadly weapon and a misdemeanor count of vandalism. They could face maximum sentences of life in prison if convicted of murder.

Investigators said in court documents that Nunez and his friends belong to a "close-knit group of friends who call themselves 'THC' aka 'The Hazard Crew,'" who flash hand signs and sport tattoos with symbols of hazardous materials.

Police investigated what they called a possible "gang nexus" in the attack. But Paul Levikow, a spokesman for the San Diego County district attorney's office, said prosecutors would not allege the stabbings were committed to promote a gang, a potential special circumstance that could result in tougher penalties.

Investigators have not recovered the knives used to kill Luis Santos, a 22-year-old student at San Diego Mesa College, and injure three others in the driveway of San Diego State University's Peterson Gym. Santos, a Concord native, died at the scene from a stab wound that "sliced through the bottom of his heart," according to court documents.

Two other people suffered stab wounds, and one underwent surgery after being punched in the eye, DiCarlo said.

Esteban Nunez is the son of Fabian Nunez, 41, the longest-serving speaker in California's era of legislative term limits. The Los Angeles Democrat cultivated a close relationship with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that led to their agreement on a landmark law to greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions in California.

Fabian Nunez and Esteban's mother, Maria, stood before a bank of television cameras as Patton made a brief statement outside court blasting prosecutors for waiting more than two months to file charges and for making the case "a bit of spectacle."

Fabian Nunez declined to comment, but had previously released a statement saying he was confident his son would be cleared of the charges.
 
Paul Pfingst, Garcia's attorney, told reporters his client "is not a murderer." Attorneys for the other two defendants did not speak with reporters.

But an arrest warrant affidavit offered witness accounts and other details of the crime.

Police suspect Nunez and his friends drove to San Diego to party. After getting kicked out of a party, they fueled their rage with a bottle of rum and two six-packs of beer at the apartment of Garcia's cousin, Briana Perez, according to court documents.

Perez quoted the men saying, "Let's go burn down their house" and "Let's show them how we do it in Sac-Town." The documents don't specify which men made the statements, although they say Nunez and Garcia did most of the talking.

The melee occurred after the group left the apartment, according to the affidavit.

Thomas later told investigators that one of the victims said, "I think I got stabbed," and that Nunez said, "Yeah, I got one of them."

John Murray told investigators that he joined his friend Nunez later that day at a Sacramento riverbank frequented by transients. Nunez carried a plastic bag, and Jett had a cup filled with gasoline as they prepared to destroy evidence, according to the affidavit.

"They had a hat and a shirt they burned, and they had their knives in a bag," Murray is quoted as saying. "I walked back to my car and said, You guys do what you have to do."

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)