Evidence Doubtful In Deadly Attack on Palm Springs Senior: Defense

BANNING, CA — An 82-year-old man accused of bludgeoning a senior whose husband had invited him to stay at their Palm Springs home didn't have the strength or motivation to kill the woman, his attorney said Friday, arguing the prosecution's contention that he beat her to death lacks credibility.

Stephen Roy McKernan allegedly killed 75-year-old Claire Carsman in 2019.

"If he was guilty, why didn't he change his clothes or wash off the blood?" attorney Michael Selyem said in his closing statement at the Banning Justice Center Friday. "He said he found Claire Carsman like that. There's no doubt she was murdered, but it was not done by him."

The defense's closing followed the prosecution's final argument on Thursday, which took all afternoon, leaving McKernan's attorney no time deliver his statements in the two-week trial until the next day.

Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Steven Sorensen acknowledged, "We don't know why Mr. McKernan did it." But the prosecutor said testimony had revealed there were political differences between the defendant and victim -- she a Democrat, he a Republican.

"She was watching one of her TV shows, and they bickered," Sorensen said. "He had a sadistic reason."

The defense countered that investigators could never determine what had transpired, or whether Carsman and McKernan were the only ones in the house at the time of the crime.

Selyem pointed to reports three vehicles were parked near the residence when McKernan called police on the afternoon of April 22, 2019, but none of them were checked.

The attorney emphasized that his client was wearing a cast while healing from a broken arm, leaving him unable to lift heavy objects, like the bar stool that investigators confirmed had been used in the deadly assault.

"He drank wine, a quantity not known even to him, and he was taking Ativan," Selyem told the jury.

Ativan is used to treat anxiety disorders and can lead to drowsiness.

The defense criticized detectives' crime log from the scene, calling it a "disaster."

"There are questions that have not been answered," he said, referring particularly to "questionable" DNA evidence suggesting another person was in the victim's residence, corresponding to McKernan's initial statement that somebody had broken into the property.

Selyem said his client suffered cognitive impairment from a stroke, and he had an affinity for alcoholic beverages, but he was known as a "happy drunk."

"He was safe around Mrs. Carsman," the attorney said, dismissing the prosecution's allegation that a disagreement over a news program may have ignited a conflict that turned fatal.

"He was not capable of forming intent," Selyem said.

McKernan, who is being held without bail at the Smith Correctional Facility, is charged with first-degree murder and sentence-enhancing allegations of using a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony, inflicting great bodily injury and being in possession of a firearm during a felony.

The defendant had known Carsman and her husband, Barry, for years, leading to the invitation to stay with them, beginning April 20, 2019.

The victim's spouse headed to an area casino in the early afternoon of April 22, leaving his wife and McKernan alone at the single-story residence at 360 W. Pico Road. Sorensen said nothing was amiss until 5:53 p.m., when Barry received a rapid succession of four calls from McKernan in under 10 minutes, all of which he missed.

One of the voicemail messages was replayed on Thursday for the jury, during which McKernan was heard saying, "It's a nightmare you've never been in your life. I need you to stay away so you're not in any danger. We got attacked. We need your attorney. Jesus Christ."

McKernan then reached a 911 dispatcher, saying "We had a break-in. I think someone is dead."

Barry and the police arrived to find a grisly scene.

"She was bludgeoned," Sorensen said, adding that blood spatter covering the defendant's clothes and shoes indicated he "had to hold the bar stool facing Mrs. Carsman."

McKernan was taken into custody without incident. At least one witness testified that his pants were unbuttoned and his belt had been hanging loose when officers encountered him standing outside the residence. However, there was no evidence of a sexual assault.

Superior Court Judge Samuel Diaz sent jurors behind closed doors early Friday afternoon to begin deliberations.

The defendant has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.

—City News Service