Scherer concludes six days of testimony at double-murder trial

OAKLAND -- Exactly three years after authorities say heslaughtered his parents in their Pleasanton home, Ernest Scherer IIIexited the witness stand Monday, leaving a jury to gauge thecredibility of his six full days of testimony.

The double-murder trial, which appears to be nearing an end as itenters its ninth week, continued with testimony from a defenseinvestigator that will resume Wednesday. But it clearly hinges onhow the jury of five men and seven women view Scherer III, whosedefense amounts to an argument that he was a common and prolificliar and cheat -- with an uncommon career as a professional pokerplayer -- but no murderer.

Scherer III, 32, testified Monday that he tried to helpinvestigators after his parents' killings March 7, 2008, but quicklyrealized he was the focus of their probe. He then withdrew intoseclusion around the Oregon border, leaving his wife and young sonbehind and posting several queries for dates on the Craigslistclassifieds website.

He says he drove from Las Vegas to his empty house in Brea on thenight authorities say Ernest Scherer Jr., 60, and CharleneAbendroth, 57, were beaten and stabbed to death in their pajamas attheir home in the Castlewood Country Club. Authorities say he turnedoff his phone on the drive from Las Vegas and killed his parents fora large inheritance before driving south to Brea.

"I hoped that they would be able to verify my alibi, that I wasin fact in Brea. I believed they would be able to do that," he said.

Scherer III testified that his phone went dead on the trip, butthat he had been making calls and text messages most of the way. Butaccording to testimony for the prosecution, the last signal came inBaker, a California highway town about 50 miles from the Nevadaborder. Scherer III testified that while he knew a Baker landmark --the world's tallest thermometer -- he could not place it on a map.

Scherer III downplayed details of several Internet searches hemade in the wake of the killings, including repeated queries forMyanmar, Cape Verde and the Marshall Islands, as well as sites forproxy servers that can hide Internet addresses.

"Were you planning a trip?" prosecutor Michael Nieto asked himrepeatedly.

"No," he replied.

"At no time did I try to hide from the Alameda County sheriff'sdepartment," he said. "I'll look up anything that pops to mind. "...I might look up great wineries of the world. It doesn't mean I planon buying one."

Nieto closed out his cross-examination by asking Scherer IIIabout a letter he sent to a friend, telling him "it would probablybe best if you didn't volunteer anything on letters I've sent you onshoes."

That letter, from May, came before investigators discovered thecash purchase of a pair of Nike Impax Tomahawk sneakers and a youthbaseball bat from an outlet store in Primm, Nev., about the timebank records show Scherer III made charges at a nearby McDonald'sand a Chevron.

Sheriff's deputies found a warranty slip from a Nike youth bat atthe crime scene, and according to testimony. Bloody shoe prints fromthe tile floor of the home matched Nike Impax Tomahawks.

Public defender Richard Foxall followed Monday with a chartaiming to show that Scherer III, who admittedly suffered a losingstreak in the months before the killings, was not nearly as deep inthe red as Nieto portrayed.

Scherer III has maintained his innocence throughout his six daysof largely composed testimony. An avid cell phone user, he maintainsthat his phone battery was damaged in a swimming pool mishap duringa trip to Puerto Rico not long before the slayings -- an explanationfor why it went dead.

Prosecutors have declined to seek the death penalty in the case.Scherer III has remained without bail at Santa Rita Jail since hisarrest in February 2009 in Las Vegas.

Contact John Simerman at 925-943-8072.