A man facing decades behind bars testified Monday in court that he was not trying to kill his girlfriend's ex-husband when he shot him last year.
Diana Lovejoy is accused of hiring her firearms instructor, Weldon McDavid Jr., to shoot her estranged husband, Gregory Mulvihill.
The bizarre shooting in September 2016 involved a contentious and expensive legal battle over child custody between Lovejoy and Mulvihill.
Monday the defense called McDavid to the stand.
McDavid served as a U.S. Marine for 12 years, according to his attorney, and worked as a gun instructor and security consultant prior to meeting Lovejoy.
McDavid was hired to teach gun skills to Lovejoy and installed a security system in her home.
On Monday, McDavid testified the couple had a sexual relationship for a period of two weeks starting in late June.
On Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016, at 10:45 p.m., Mulvihill received a mysterious phone call from a man with a deep voice promising documents the victim “would want to see." A package of the documents would be taped on a utility pole along an access road.
McDavid does not deny calling Mulvihill to arrange the meeting. He testified that he chose an isolated access road off Avenida Soledad in Carlsbad because it was secluded but not so much so that Mulvihill would not show up.
McDavid said during his testimony Monday his plan was to get information that could be used against Mulvilhill in family court.
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He said Lovejoy offered to pay him $2,000 for the information, but they never discussed hurting Mulvihill.
Prosecutors alleged Mulvihill was lured to the location by Lovejoy and McDavid as part of a murder plot.
When he went to investigate with a friend, Mulvihill saw a man laying on his stomach in a sniper position with a rifle pointing at them, prosecutors said. The distance between them was approximately 60 feet.
The man with a rifle fired one shot, striking Mulvihill under his arm. The victim and his friend ran from the area and called 911.
McDavid said he did not attempt to murder Mulvihill but was trying to shoot a flashlight out of his hand.
"The target I missed was a flashlight," said McDavid. "I would not miss a man-shaped target from that distance."
McDavid also said he fired the shot after he believed Mulvihill said he had a gun.
"As soon as he said those words, I decided I had to do something," said McDavid.
But Deputy District Attorney Jodi Breton cross-examined McDavid, saying his Marine training would allow him to see if Mulvihill was armed or not.
Brenton asked McDavid if he had checked the scope of his gun to determine if Mulvihill had a gun as he was walking to the location. McDavid said he did not check before firing.
At an earlier court hearing, Mulvihill testified he heard one gunshot and said he felt like he was shot in his back. As he turned and ran from the area, he heard six or seven shots several seconds later, he testified. His co-worker was not injured.
"As a Marine we commonly say, 'we rule the night,' We are much better in darkness situations than any other military in the world," said McDavid. "So light conditions would not matter."
The defense called a series of other witnesses to the stand. A gun expert for the Marines, Vincent Keyser, who testified that he knew McDavid, said the defendant would be capable of hitting a target at that range "10 times out of 10."
The defense called colleagues of McDavid, like Dr. Barry Reder, a pediatric dentist who has known McDavid for 10 years and has taken firearms classes from him at a local shooting range.
Reder said the two had used pistols and rifles together. He said he was confident McDavid would not miss a target from 100 feet away.
Christopher Lozano, a veteran who served in the Marines from 1998 to 2013 was also called to testify by the defense. He knew McDavid through the school of infantry at Camp Pendleton. He also testified that McDavid was an expert level shooter, even in conditions with little to no light.
But prosecutors asked if it was possible that McDavid could have been out of practice, having not served in the Marines for 8 years when the incident occurred.
Prosecutors also argued that McDavid could be a less efficient shooter at night due to aging and poorer eyesight.
Lea McDavid, the wife of Weldon, was also called to the stand by the defense to testify about gun parts she found in her home after the police raided it following Weldon's arrest. She expressed to the prosecutor when asked that she had no issue with multiple guns in her home.
Lovejoy and Mulvihill separated in 2014. A few months before the shooting, Mulvihill was awarded joint custody of the couple’s son. Prior to that, he had 10 hours of visitation per week.
If convicted, McDavid could 50 years to life in prison while Lovejoy faces 25 years to life.
