Two Men Accused of Homicide to Face Trial

The 23-year-old San Bruno man who was slain by two people on Cypress Avenue in April died from a combination of stab wounds and blunt force trauma to the head, a police detective testified in court today. 

But there is now a dispute about which assailant played a bigger role in the killing of Christopher Chastain. 

These new details emerged in a preliminary hearing held today in the Redwood City Hall of Justice, where one witness—a San Bruno Police detective—answered questions about the late-night murder and shed light on what might have happened to lead up to the bizarre incident—the city’s first homicide since 2008. 

After the hearing, Superior Court Judge Mark Forcum determined that there was enough evidence to take Nicholas Vargas and Brandon Thompson, both accused of killing Chastain, to trial. 

In his testimony, Detective Ryan Johansen talked about the scene of the crime on the night of the killing, describing the autopsy that showed stab wounds and blunt force trauma to Chastain’s head and evidence that the assailants pulled a plastic bag over Chastain’s face and tried to put him in a car after he was slain, according to San Mateo County Deputy District Attorney Al Giannini. 

Shortly after the murder, the district attorney’s office said Vargas and Thompson reportedly dragged Chastain outside of Vargas’s parents’ house on Cypress Avenue and tried to put him in the trunk of Vargas’s car, which was parked in the driveway. However, Chastain’s 6-foot-5 frame was too heavy for them, so they left him on the ground. 

Johansen also testified that Thompson told him during an interview that Vargas accused Chastain of sexually assaulting his sister—shedding light on a possible motive for the attack—and that Vargas beat Chastain with a pipe wrench, according to Giannini. Thompson allegedly confessed to stabbing Chastain with a knife, Johansen continued. 

Both Vargas, 25, of San Bruno and Thompson, 27, of San Mateo pleaded not guilty in May to the murder charges. 

But now it appears that both assailants are pointing fingers at each other as to whom played a larger role in the slaying. 

According to Johansen, Thompson initially denied hurting Chastain at all. But Vargas’s attorney, Connie O’Brien, presented evidence that apparently shows Thompson, a parolee, may have a shaky past. 

“Vargas didn’t make a statement at the scene, so we’re still waiting to hear from him,” Giannini said. 

The defense attorneys representing Vargas and Thompson didn’t present any witnesses during the hearing. 

Vargas and Thompson, who are both being held in San Mateo County Jail without bail, are scheduled to appear next in court on Jan. 4 in Redwood City to set a date for the trial.