RENO, NEV. — The best friend of a Vagos motorcycle gang member charged with murder in a casino shootout involving rival biker gangs denied Monday that a hit had been ordered on victim Jeffrey Pettigrew, a Hells Angels chapter president.
Richard Nickerson testified in Reno that he shared a room with defendant Ernesto Gonzalez at the scene of the shootout — John Ascuaga's Nugget — in September 2011.
Nickerson also downplayed rivalries between the Vagos and Hells Angels but conceded that tensions were high, the Reno Gazette-Journal (http://on.rgj.com/1bCM6fp) reported.
"We coexisted," Nickerson said. "They respected us and we respected them."
Gonzalez is being tried on seven counts, including murder, in the death of Pettigrew, former chapter president of the Hells Angels in San Jose, Calif. Prosecutors contend that Vagos leaders had put a hit on Pettigrew and Gonzalez agreed to carry it out.
"You never attended a meeting when Mr. Gonzalez said, 'I'm going to shoot Pettigrew, did you?'" Gonzalez's attorney David Houston asked.
"No," Nickerson said. "There was no meeting."
Nickerson said he didn't know Gonzalez had a gun and added that the brawl inside the casino was started by individuals, not rival groups.
He said the fight on the busy casino floor on Sept. 23, 2011, was instigated by Gary "Jabbers" Rudnick, ex-vice president of the Los Angeles chapter of the Vagos.
Nickerson described Rudnick as "some drunken fool" who "shot off his mouth and started a hornet's nest," the newspaper reported.
Rudnick and Caesar Villagrana, a Hells Angel from San Jose, were indicted on murder-related charges, but both later pleaded guilty to lesser charges in a deal with prosecutors.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/07/29/3413480/friend-of-suspect-says-no-hit.html#storylink=cpy
Richard Nickerson testified in Reno that he shared a room with defendant Ernesto Gonzalez at the scene of the shootout — John Ascuaga's Nugget — in September 2011.
Nickerson also downplayed rivalries between the Vagos and Hells Angels but conceded that tensions were high, the Reno Gazette-Journal (http://on.rgj.com/1bCM6fp) reported.
"We coexisted," Nickerson said. "They respected us and we respected them."
Gonzalez is being tried on seven counts, including murder, in the death of Pettigrew, former chapter president of the Hells Angels in San Jose, Calif. Prosecutors contend that Vagos leaders had put a hit on Pettigrew and Gonzalez agreed to carry it out.
"You never attended a meeting when Mr. Gonzalez said, 'I'm going to shoot Pettigrew, did you?'" Gonzalez's attorney David Houston asked.
"No," Nickerson said. "There was no meeting."
Nickerson said he didn't know Gonzalez had a gun and added that the brawl inside the casino was started by individuals, not rival groups.
He said the fight on the busy casino floor on Sept. 23, 2011, was instigated by Gary "Jabbers" Rudnick, ex-vice president of the Los Angeles chapter of the Vagos.
Nickerson described Rudnick as "some drunken fool" who "shot off his mouth and started a hornet's nest," the newspaper reported.
Rudnick and Caesar Villagrana, a Hells Angel from San Jose, were indicted on murder-related charges, but both later pleaded guilty to lesser charges in a deal with prosecutors.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/07/29/3413480/friend-of-suspect-says-no-hit.html#storylink=cpy