Document text
Transients get 6 years for slaying Victim's brother calls defendants 'cowards' in court By Chris Bristol Steve Dymarcik's voice rose with anger in court Monday as he faced two transients who killed his brother in a drunken fight last year. Ronald Pageau was no monster, he said. "The plain and simple fact of the matter is, my brother was unconscious and you beat him to death!" he shouted. "You're cowards, both of you!" The defendants -- Howard Baker, 51, and David Zahner, 37 -- were sentenced to more than six years in prison for beating and stomping Pageau to death outside an abandoned house in north Medford. Under the terms of Measure 11, both men must serve the entire sentence -- 75 months -- before they are eligible for parole. Last month, a Jackson County jury partially rejected the defendants' claims of self-defense, finding the men guilty of the "lesser included" charge of second-degree manslaughter. The verdicts represented a bitter victory of sorts for the defendants, who faced 10 years in prison if they had been convicted of first-degree manslaughter. On the night of Nov. 16, Baker and Zahner were camping out illegally behind a boarded-up home on North Central Avenue, one of several eyesores near the busy Court Street intersection. According to trial testimony, Pageau started the fight in a drunken rage. He threatened a homeless woman who was staying in the house with her 8-year-old son, and then attacked Baker when he tried to intervene. In court Monday, prosecutor Beth Heckert said that even though Pageau was the "initial aggressor," the evidence was clear that Baker and Zahner repeatedly beat and stomped Pageau on the ground after he had been knocked out. A postal carrier found the body the next day, in the front yard. An autopsy revealed Pageau's skull was badly fractured. "Had the fight stopped, we would never be here today," she said, adding the fatal injuries occurred "after (Pageau) was down." Defense attorneys Angie LaNier and Lorenzo Mejia repeated their argument that Pageau was the "architect" of his own demise and that their clients did nothing wrong under the circumstances. They said their clients feared Pageau, who had a history of violent behavior when drunk. "I sympathize with the family," LaNier said, referring to the victim's supporters in court, "but I think there was a side to him they may have never seen." Baker declined to address the court. Zahner said he had no malice in his heart for Pageau and that his only regret was trying to intervene on the woman's behalf. "I can understand why people never get involved," he said. "I wish I had that night to do over again." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA