Dally’s Childhood Friend Tells of Slide Into Vice

Over the course of his life, Michael Dally transformed from a polite altar boy into a drug-using patron of prostitutes who psychologically abused and cheated on his wife, a childhood friend testified Thursday.

John Avila told jurors in the murder trial of Dally’s lover, Diana Haun, that he knew Dally since childhood but become estranged from the 37-year-old grocery clerk in recent years as Dally slid into a seedy world of drug use and crime.

At the same time, Avila testified, he became a confidant of Dally’s wife, Sherri, and, shortly before her May 6, 1996, slaying, he advised her to leave the failing marriage.

“There was one occasion where she told me she was afraid,” Avila said in a soft, somber voice. “There were several times I told her she would be better off leaving him.”

Dally and Haun, 36, are accused of planning and carrying out the slaying of Sherri Dally. Prosecutors have argued that among many motives, the lovers wanted the 35-year-old day-care center operator and mother of two out of the way to avoid a potentially costly divorce.

Although Haun is the first of the pair to stand trial, much of the testimony in her case has so far focused on Dally, who will be tried later this year. In addition to Avila, Thursday’s testimony included:

* Two witnesses who told jurors about items Haun purchased at an Oxnard Kmart two days before the slaying, such as a black-handled camping ax, waterproof matches, charcoal lighter fluid and a bath towel.

* A neighbor of the Dallys who recalled seeing a blue car driven by a blond-haired person parked on their street at about 7:30 a.m. on May 6, 1996.

* A Ventura College computer instructor who said she saw a suspicious blue car in front of the Ventura Target store about 8 a.m. the same day.

Joanne Bidlingmaier told jurors that the car appeared to have a phony license plate and was driven by a woman wearing a straw-colored blond wig, heavy makeup and a tan suit.

“To me, it was a disguise,” she said, adding that it prompted her to ask a person inside Target if the store was being robbed because of “the getaway car” she saw outside.

Avila was the last witness called Thursday. He told the jury that in the 30 years he knew Michael Dally, whom he calls “Butchie,” he saw him become increasingly involved with drugs and prostitutes while turning his back on his family.

Avila, a former Oxnard police officer, said he once ran into Dally in a crime-infested area of Oxnard known as the Stroll.

“As I told him, there’s only two things down here--drugs and prostitutes,” Avila told the jury. “He said he was just looking around.”

Dally’s drug use made his wife fearful, anxious and depressed, Avila said. One time, he said, she showed him something she found but could not identify. It was a crack pipe, he testified.

Asked by Deputy Dist. Atty. Lela Henke-Dobroth if he ever knew Sherri Dally to use drugs, Avila said he was unsure but recalled a story she shared with him about Michael directing her to take cocaine.

“She didn’t like it,” he said.

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Avila told the jury that around the same time Sherri Dally told him that she had learned about her husband’s involvement with another woman and was upset because he was spending more time away from home. The woman, he said, was Diana Haun.

Michael Dally often compared his wife to his girlfriend, Avila said, remembering how Sherri described the time her husband thumbed through a lingerie catalog and remarked: “This would look good on Diana.”

Over the course of the 2-year affair, Sherri confronted Haun twice, Avila testified. The first time was in the parking lot of a Ventura optometrist.

“She asked the woman what she was doing with her husband,” Avila said.

How did Haun reply? Henke-Dobroth asked.

“I can’t quote it,” Avila said, “but it was either, ‘I’m sleeping with him’ or ‘I’m having sex with him.’ ”

Sherri Dally also told Avila about a second confrontation with a “very aggressive” Haun in the parking lot of an Oxnard supermarket, he said.

“I can remember Sherri telling me that she had approached this woman in the Von’s parking lot,” Avila said, telling the jury that Sherri Dally told Haun to stay away from her family.

“The reply, Sherri told me, was ‘I am going to have him and your kids,’ ” Avila said. “Sherri’s reply to that was, ‘Over my dead body.’ ”

Avila testified for about 30 minutes Thursday and is scheduled to return to the witness stand today.

In addition to being a friend of the Dallys, Avila was employed as the head of security for the Target store where Sherri was last seen.

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Prosecutors say Haun rented a blue car and purchased a blond wig as part of a disguise to make it easier for her to kidnap Sherri Dally, whose remains were found in a ravine north of Ventura a month after her disappearance.

Defense attorneys say Haun was an unknowing accomplice to a murder plan crafted by Michael Dally. They contend that Haun, even if disguised, could not have kidnapped Sherri Dally, who would have known her from the two earlier confrontations.

Michael Dally and Haun are charged with murder, kidnapping and conspiracy in the death. They are also facing two special-circumstance allegations making them eligible for the death penalty.

Before Avila testified, another witness told the jury about a confrontation she observed between the Dallys and Haun.

Jeri Murphy was working as a receptionist for a Ventura optometrist when she saw the three get into a verbal fight outside her office. It was in January 1996, she said, and Dally, who was accompanied by Haun, was late for an appointment with the eye doctor when his wife stopped him.

“She was obviously upset,” Murphy said.

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Although she could not hear their conversation, Murphy said she watched the five-minute fight.

Sherri was visibly angry and shaking, she said, and Michael was agitated and had his fists clenched at his side.

Haun, meanwhile, had stepped away as the husband and wife exchanged words, Murphy recalled. “She more or less turned away, crossed her arms and was tapping her foot,” she said.

But after a few minutes, Murphy said, Haun walked between the couple and began to point her finger at Sherri Dally while saying something that caused the wife to back away.

“She [Sherri] was definitely upset,” Murphy said. “She had a pained expression on her face.”

“Diana was smiling and so was Michael,” Murphy added. “He took her hand and came into the office.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

People vs. Haun

The Legal Pad

Ventura attorney William C. Maxwell and Westlake attorney J. Grant Kennedy offer their take on the Diana Haun murder trial. They will rotate with other experts as the case moves forward. today Maxwell analyzes the testimony of Jeri Murphy, who observed a confrontation between Michael Dally, Sherri Dally and Diana Haun. Kennedy discusses the testimony of John Avila, a close friend of the Dallys and head of security at Target in Ventura:

WILLIAM C. MAXWELl, Ventura attorney

“Obviously the point of [Murphy’s testimony] is to show that they were teasing Sherri and that Sherri knew her. It probably cuts both ways. Prosecutors want to show that at least, antagonism existed. Probably they want the jury to draw something from the fact that they came into the office laughing and joking. For the defense, this is one of those things you get that can cut the other way, because the defense made the point in its opening statement that Sherri knew Haun and that they had a confrontation in the parking lot that went on for at least five minutes. The other side of the coin is that she would presumably recognize her at Target.”

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J. GRANT KENNEDY, Westlake attorney

“The interesting thing about Avila is that he was human, and there is a real need here for some human development because it is a very deliberate presentation of facts, and any development of a story cannot be interesting with just facts. You have to have a human element...He was very gentle, very full of love, very open and likable. He didn’t have any anger in him. He was really wanting to say what he knew. And he knew the inside story.”

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Compiled by Tracy Wilson / Times court reporter