When the mother of alleged killer Scott Ansman stepped into the elevator this morning at the Airport Courthouse, she repeated, for verification, the date of her son’s next court appearance to the uniformed man beside her.
“Nov. 6, isn’t that right?” she asked the National Guardsman, who requested anonymity.
When the soldier replied “That’s right,” Mr. Ansman’s mother said tenderly, “That is his birthday.”
Early in the Case
And so, on the Election Tuesday that Sgt. Scott Ansman of the National Guard turns 35 years old, his defense will begin against the accusation that the married father from Carson savagely murdered his pregnant girlfriend a month ago yesterday.
The mothers of both principals in the late summer Culver City homicide at the National Guard Armory were in Judge Scott Millington’s courtroom for this morning’s two-minute continuance ritual. Three members of the family of the murdered woman, 29-year-old JoAnn Harris, have closely followed every gesture in Judge Millington’s courtroom.
Sorrow on Both Sides
During their month of mourning, Ms. Harris mother, Martha Lou Harris, and her brother, Gerald Bennett, also have expressed empathy for Mr. Ansman’s wife, for his young children and for his mother.
Initially represented by the Public Defender’s office, the suspect has hired a Riverside-based attorney, whose partner was granted the six-week delay.
Suspect’s Appearance
During the 120-second glimpse his family gained of him in jailhouse yellow and blue, the haggard, bent, spent Mr. Ansman looked so impotent that Ms. Harris’s brother ventured to speculate that the defendant could not have acted alone. Mr. Ansman did not resemble a young man who would warrant the slightest notice in a crowd of three or of 300.
Meanwhile, a compatriot of Mr. Ansman’s at the National Guard Armory spoke briefly and anonymously about the 15-year veteran.
The first question regarded support from the “several hundred” members of his Guard unit, and the response conveyed a sense of hesitation.
Awaiting the Facts
friend said of the suspect’s fellow Guardsmen. “Everyone has got to see what is going on. Basically, that is the way the military handles things.
“They support him. But at the same time, they are like, let’s see what is going on first. You have got to wait for everything to pan out.
“I haven’t talked to everybody in the unit, of course. But the ones I have talked to support him.”
‘Nobody Knows’
Ms. Ansman’s fellow Guardsman said chatter about the killing of Ms. Harris has been limited. Were his pals shocked? “In the military, we don’t do that,” the veteran said. “They will talk about it to a certain extent. But nobody knows exactly what happened. Nobody knows both sides of the story. So everybody just basically takes the attitude, we will see how it goes. That’s all you can do.”
The Guardsman said he never had seen Ms. Harris around the Vets’ Park building, a facility that rarely attracts attention from locals or passersby.
Drawing a Line
As for Mr. Ansman’s character and habits:
“Good soldier,” the friend told the newspaper. “Does a good job. Doesn’t take no crap. He’s a good guy, good soldier. Family man and a professional soldier.”
Of course, said Mr. Ansman’s friend, “I was surprised by the accusation. You wouldn’t get that impression if you met him. I don’t really know all the details. And I don’t care. That is not really my point.”
A New, Wider Scenario
Mr. Bennett, Ms. Harris’s only brother, remarked as he was leaving the courthouse that the defendant looked “unusually frail. He also seemed scared, very frightened.”
Mr. Bennett raised a scenario that has not been acknowledged by the Culver City police. “I don’t think (Mr. Ansman) could have pulled this off by himself,” he said. “There must have been a bigger plan. Servicemen look healthier than this gentleman. I don’t think he did it by himself. I’m not trying to excuse him, but he doesn’t look as if he could have done it by himself. Who knows?”
