Father Guilty in Vengeance Killing of Alleged Rapist

A 44-year-old father charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of a man suspected of raping his stepdaughter was convicted Friday of voluntary manslaughter.

Some jurors said they voted for the lesser charge because they believed that defendant Raymond Wisecarver acted in a fit of rage, rather than in a cold, premeditated manner, when he shot Edward Shreckengaust, a 23-year-old nightclub bouncer from Reseda.

Others said they focused on testimony from a psychiatrist who concluded that Wisecarver, of Panorama City, was brain damaged from years of alcohol abuse and could not control his impulses.

Wisecarver’s wife, Deborah, 36, burst into tears of jubilation and hugged a friend when the verdict was read in Van Nuys Superior Court. She later said she had hoped for an outright acquittal but was relieved that her husband was exonerated of first- and second-degree murder.

“He’s got a chance at life,” Deborah Wisecarver said. “He’ll be coming home someday.”

Wisecarver, who remains in custody pending his June 19 sentencing, faces a maximum of 13 years in prison. The first-degree murder charge would have carried 27 years to life.

Probation Requested

Deputy Public Defender Mark Lessem said he would ask Judge David D. Perez to reject a prison term and sentence his client to probation.

“There are unique facts in this case that you just don’t see every day,” Lessem said. “I think probation is appropriate.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert L. Cohen argued at the conclusion of the six-day trial that the July 10 shotgun slaying was an act of vigilantism that denied Shreckengaust his right to a trial on the rape allegation.

Testimony revealed that Wisecarver’s stepdaughter, who was 15 at the time, reported to police that Shreckengaust, whom she knew through a friend, had raped her in his apartment. Later statements by the teen-ager and Shreckengaust revealed that the two had used cocaine that night.

Two days after the alleged rape, police told the family that they wanted to investigate the daughter’s report further and would allow Shreckengaust to remain free until they received the results of blood tests and a polygraph examination.

Within two hours after learning that Shreckengaust had not been arrested, Wisecarver shot him while posing as a magazine salesman at his apartment door, according to testimony.