Hearing in High Desert bunker murders scheduled for November

At the preliminary hearing, prosecutors will call witnesses to testify about some of the evidence against the defendants to support the charges. Ususally, those witnesses are law enforcement officers who investigated the case.

After hearing the testimony, a judge will determine whether there is sufficient evidence to hold over the defendants for trial on the charges.

Thompson, whom friends referred to as Cody, and Sherzer-Potter, whose friends called her Bodhi, attended a friend's 19th birthday party at the bunker the night of Jan. 4 and the morning of Jan. 5.

Authorities believe their assailants, who learned of the party through a High Desert acquaintance, targeted them because they were the last revelers at the party, which broke up around 4 a.m.

A friend discovered the victims' bodies lying in a dark hallway in the bunker, a former Air Force radio relay station, on the afternoon of Jan. 5.

Both defendants are charged with murder, kidnapping and attempted robbery. McGlaughlin also faces special allegations of intentionally discharging a firearm causing great bodily injury or death. He faces 111 years to life in prison if convicted.

Smith faces 81 years to life in prison if convicted, prosecutor Steven Sinfield said.

Staff Writer Joe Nelson contributed to this report.

Posted below is a story written by Joe Nelson about the case on Jan. 25:

Author: Joe Nelson, Staff Writer

Article Text:

HELENDALE -- Two High Desert teens were ordered out of a jeep, marched into an abandoned military bunker and slain execution style with a shotgun and rifle after a robbery attempt, according to a search warrant affidavit.

Details surrounding the Jan. 5 slayings of 18-year-old Apple Valley resident Christopher Cody Thompson and his 16-year-old girlfriend, Bodhisattva Sherzer-Potter, emerge from the affidavit filed today in San Bernardino Superior Court.

Collin Lee McGlaughlin, 18, of West Covina, and David Brian Smith, 19, of Covina, were arrested Jan. 17 by sheriff's homicide detectives following an extensive two-week investigation. They are each charged with murder, kidnapping and attempted robbery. McGlaughlin faces special allegations of using a firearm and causing great bodily injury. They both face life in prison if convicted.

According to details in the affidavit, McGlaughlin, Smith and a 16-year-old friend were planning a camp out in the desert on Jan. 4, and asked a friend of Smith's, who lives in Victorville if he knew of any places to hang out. The friend suggested the bunker - about 16 miles west of Barstow and 1 1/2 miles south of Highway 58.

The two suspects and their friend arrived at the bunker about 11 p.m. Jan. 4 and found a party underway. McGlaughlin asked a partygoer if he and his friends could join them, to which the partygoer agreed.

Shortly before 4 a.m., McGlaughlin, Smith and their 16-year-old friend, who is not being identified because he is a minor and hasn't been charged with a crime, sat in a van belonging to the mother of the 16-year-old and waited until the last revelers, Thompson and Sherzer-Potter, started to leave.

McGlaughlin, armed with a shotgun, and Smith, armed with a Rutger Mini 14 Rifle, got out of the van and approached the jeep Thompson and Sherzer-Potter were in and pounded on the door. When Thompson opened the door, McGlaughlin demanded money. When Thompson told McGlaughlin he didn't have any money, McGlaughlin became "very angry and ordered the victims out of the jeep at gunpoint."

McGlaughlin and Smith walked the victims to the bunker, where McGlaughlin ordered them to their knees. He shot Thompson in the back and in the face and then shot Sherzer-Potter twice. He told Smith to shoot Sherzer-Potter again because she was still moving, and when Smith refused, McGlaughlin wrested the gun from Smith and shot the girl again in the side of the head, according to the affidavit.

The 16-year-old boy who was with the two suspects was in the van the whole time.

Sheriff's Sgt. Frank Montanez, whose team headed up the investigation, said the decision to charge the 16-year-old in the case rests with county prosecutors.

"There was no overt action on his part. He was just there," Montanez said of the boy, referring to a lack of evidence showing intent on the 16-year-old's part.

Deputy District Attorney Steven Sinfield, who is prosecuting the two suspects, couldn't be reached for comment Friday.

Following the shooting, the two suspects collected the brass shotgun casings from the ground but left behind a spent .223-caliber casing that's compatible with a Mini 14 rifle, Montanez said, adding that investigators are awaiting the results of ballistics tests to see if the casing matches the Mini 14 used in the shooting.

Following the shootings, Smith called his Victorville friend and told him that if anyone asked about them, they were never at the bunker. The friend later told detectives Smith sounded "scared" when he called, and later told him what had happened was a "life-changing event."

McGlaughlin, Smith and their friend returned home following the shootings. McGlaughlin made Smith and their friend give him all their clothing and shoes. He burned all the clothing and bought Smith and his other friend a new pair of shoes. He also told his two friends that he reported the guns stolen a couple of weeks prior.

Smith's Victorville friend told investigators he thought McGlaughlin was "psycho," and that McGlaughlin owned enough guns to cover his kitchen table, which is about four feet by six feet. He said he went camping with McGlaughlin once and "slept with a gun because he was afraid of Collin." He also told detectives he felt Smith may be suicidal over the slayings.

Smith placed the guns believed used in the shootings into a tan duffel bag and stored them in the garage at the Covina home where Smith was living with his friend and his friend's mother.

A friend discovered the bodies of Thompson and Sherzer-Potter, who had attended Apple Valley's renown charter school Academy for Academic Excellence, about 3:20 p.m. Jan. 5. He had returned to the bunker with some friends, who along with the two victims had attended a party there the night before, after Thompson's mother called him and said her son had not returned home.

Detectives seized from McGlaughlin's home nine boxes of 12-gauge shotgun buck and 14 12-gauge rounds, as well as one .223-caliber bullet and a receipt for a Rutger Mini 14 .223-caliber rifle. They seized from Smith's home a newspaper article, and impounded the van described by witnesses as at the scene of the crime.

Also seized in another search were guns believed used in the crimes. Investigators are awaiting the results of ballistics tests to determine if the guns were used in the crimes.

Smith's Fountain Valley attorney, Sarah Stockwell, described her client on Friday as a good kid who got caught up in a horrible incident.

She said Smith excelled in science and was an all-star track athlete while attending Northview High School in Covina. He competed at the state and national levels for nearly all his high school years and won a full track scholarship to U.C Riverside, where he majored in biochemistry last year.

But a conflict with his track coach resulted in Smith's scholarship being revoked, and he was unable to afford to continue attending the school, Stockwell said.

So, Smith enlisted in the Marines, and was set to ship out to boot camp in June, Stockwell said.

"We hope as the case unfolds, the truth will come out about what happened that night, and who played what role and to what degree," Stockwell said.

Smith's father, James A. Smith, is chief of police for the small town of St. Anthony, Id. He couldn't be reached for comment on Friday.

McGlaughlin attended Lutheran High School in La Verne in 2005 and 2006, but was kicked out, school principal Jeremy Lowe said Friday, declining to elaborate further.

On his MySpace page, McGlaughlin boasted of being an "Equal opertunity (sic) merchant of death" and spewed violent philosophies on a blog page. He entertained fantasies of being able to walk down the street and randomly shoot people with a .357 magnum.

His father, Wayne McGlaughlin, declined to comment Friday.

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