SIMI VALLEY : Trial Begins in Test-Drive Slaying

Testimony began in Ventura County Superior Court on Thursday in the murder trial of a 22-year-old transient who is accused of killing a Simi Valley man after test-driving his sports car.

Oscar Rudolfo Barrascout faces a first-degree murder charge in the shooting of Gregory D. Minor, 37. Minor, a Blue Cross insurance employee, was found under the bed in his condominium just after 7:30 p.m. on May 18, dead of two gunshot wounds to the head. Police have said they found Barrascout sleeping in his van about a mile from Minor’s home early the next morning and recovered the keys to Minor’s 1984 Corvette and a diamond-faced gold watch inscribed with Minor’s initials from the van.

Janet Alley, a neighbor, testified Thursday that she arrived home the afternoon of May 18 and saw Minor talking to Barrascout while preparing to wash his other car, a Nissan Maxima.

Another neighbor, Barbara Avery, testified that she heard a noise from inside Minor’s home, then saw Barrascout leaving the condo alone at about 5:30 p.m. She testified that Barrascout repeatedly reached into the Corvette, then asked if she knew the time and left.