Trial involving body in a barrel is sent to jurors

SAN DIEGO — The case involving two men accused in the stabbing death of a 28year-old Chula Vista man, whose body was stuffed into a barrel and dropped into the San Diego Bay, has gone to a jury.

Jurors heard closing arguments this week from attorneys in the trial of Timothy John Cook, who prosecutors say stabbed his housemate 66 times, and Derrick Spurgeon, who is accused of helping to dispose of the body.

Cook, 54, faces a murder charge in San Diego County Superior Court. Spurgeon, 40, is accused of being an accessory after the fact.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Cherie Somerville argued that Cook was motivated by hatred and greed when he fatally stabbed his housemate, Omar Medina, on Sept. 30, 2017. The prosecutor contended that Cook was annoyed by Medina’s lack of cleanliness, and that Cook wanted to get his hands on an $80,000 legal settlement Medina had recently won.

Defense lawyers, however, said the prosecutor failed to prove that Cook was guilty of murder or that Spurgeon was aware of what was inside the 55-gallon drum when he drove the boat used to dump the barrel on Oct. 11, 2017.

“There is no witness, no murder weapon and no real motive,” said Deputy Public Defender Kara Oien, who represents Cook.

Roland Haddad, Spurgeon’s lawyer, argued that surveillance video played in court appeared to show the two men dumping the barrel off the coast of Chula Vista, but there was no record of what they discussed.

Somerville urged the jurors to use their common sense when looking at the evidence. She noted that investigators found barrels, cinder blocks and a wire kit on Spurgeon’s property similar to those in which Medina’s body was found.

“None of that is a coincidence,” Somerville said.

The jury is set to resume deliberations Wednesday.