Friends and coworkers of Marilyn Pharis testified during a Santa Barbara County Superior Court trial that the Santa Maria woman was active and planning a vacation before the brutal attack that led to her death nearly three years ago.
Victor Ramirez Martinez, 32, is on trial for attacking Pharis, 64, in her Santa Maria home in summer 2015. Pharis died at the hospital eight days later.
Martinez and co-defendant Jose Villagomez, 23, broke into the home on the 900 block of North Dejoy Street on July 24, 2015, according to authorities.
While Martinez is accused of beating Pharis with a hammer and his fists, Villagomez allegedly acted as lookout.
Villagomez pleaded guilty to murder in a plea deal after the trial started, and returns to court in July for sentencing.
The prosecution team, led by Senior Deputy District Attorney Ann Bramsen and colleague Fabiana Fede, contend the trauma of the attack led to the pulmonary embolism that caused the victim’s death.
Martinez’ defense attorney Lori Pedego has focused on Pharis’ medical care after the attack, contending it was faulty.
In court Wednesday, Linda Lee recalled a 40-year friendship with Pharis, which started when they met while serving as enlisted airmen in the Air Force.
They remained friends as they took civilian jobs at the Vandenberg Tracking Station.
Both Lee and Pharis’s supervisor talked about the duties at the tracking station, notable by the large “golf balls,” or radomes housing antennas on a hilltop visible by those traveling between the Santa Maria and Lompoc valleys.
“If there was a nasty job to do, and you needed help doing it, Marilyn would always be the one to be there to help you do it,” said Lee, a Lompoc resident. “She wasn’t a shirker.”
Duties included applying grease to the difficult-to-access equipment, and the two women helped another coworker carry supplies, climb ladders, and more as part of the job.
“At that time she didn’t show any physical defects or limitations at all,” Lee said.
Lee became emotional as she recalled seeing her badly bruised friend in the hospital,
The long-time friend arrived at the hospital room where she saw Pharis having a seizure, leading to the code blue response and the patient’s relocation to the Intensive Care Unit where lifesaving measures failed.
Under cross examination, Lee said she was unaware Pharis had been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation.
Kenneth Hallberg, who worked as a supervisor at the tracking station and knew Pharis for 35 years, said he had talked to her about her planned trip to Denmark and river cruises.
“She was getting ready to go on vacation,” he said.
Earlier in the day, police Sgt. Michael Huffman took the witness stand to testify about his talks — the detective called it an interview while the defense attorney labeled it an interrogation — with Martinez on the day of his arrest.
“Throughout the interview he told me various things about what he did with the hammer,” Huffman said. “He first said he didn’t hit Ms. Pharis at all with it. He later said that he hit Ms. Pharis one time with the hammer.
“He also said that he couldn’t remember how many times he hit her with he hammer, but it was more than one time,” Huffman said.
Martinez later told police he wielded the hammer against the woman because he was afraid Pharis could identify him, according to testimony.
During the interview, Martinez demonstrated how he strangled Pharis, Huffman said.
When the defense attorney asked why Huffman did not ask certain follow-up questions, the detective said he had trouble keeping Martinez on topic.
The detective said he told Martinez the woman had numerous hammer-related injuries to her face.
“That was not true when you told him that, correct?” Pedego asked.
“At that time, I didn’t know how many occurred,” Huffman said, adding he had been told she had injuries caused by the hammer found at the scene, and has since learned none of the facial injuries came from a hammer.
“But, you got him to agree with you that he hit her several times with a hammer, correct?” Pedego asked.
The trial will continue in Judge John McGregor’s courtroom on Tuesday.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.