CANYON COUNTRY MAN ORDERED TO STAND TRIAL IN SEX SLAYING.

Byline: Laurence Darmiento Daily News Staff Writer

A Canyon Country man was ordered Friday to stand trial on charges that he sexually assaulted and murdered a hitchhiking college student from Berkeley in the summer.

After a preliminary hearing that stretched over two days, a Newhall Municipal Court judge found that there was sufficient evidence to try Jeffrey Alan Works in the July death of Aleistar Martin.

Works, a tow truck driver, also was ordered to face charges that he sexually assaulted two other men, and faces special circumstance allegations that make him eligible for the death penalty.

"What we have here is a pattern," said Deputy District Attorney Marsh Goldstein, who has called Works a "sexual predator." "We don't have one killer piece of evidence, but lots of small pieces."

Works, 29, is accused of killing Martin, 19, in a remote area north of Pyramid Lake after picking up the victim near Magic Mountain Parkway the morning of July 28.

Deputy Public Defender Bob Pefferman, Works' court-appointed attorney, did not return calls seeking comment.

A student at the University of California, Martin had driven his motorcycle down from Berkeley earlier that month to visit his girlfriend in Riverside, according to testimony at the preliminary hearing.

An accident disabled Martin's bike, prompting him to hitchhike back up to Berkeley, where he was working for the group Voter Revolt, testified his girlfriend, Ingrid Kai Lee.

"He had money in the bank, but he wanted the adventure of hitchhiking," Lee said. "He said he would be fine, because he had his knife."

Lee testified that her boyfriend later called her from a small town north of Los Angeles, telling he had been picked up by a man with whom he had ingested methamphetamine.

"He said (the man) was in his late 20s. He said he seemed like a nice guy. He said he was a drug dealer," Lee said. "He said he went into the backwoods to do drugs together."

Martin never arrived in Berkeley and Lee reported him missing. Works was linked to Martin after investigators said they found Works had used Martin's phone card from Works' Canyon Country apartment.

Works acknowledged that he had picked up Martin but claimed he had dropped him off at a truck stop off the Golden State Freeway, according to a Berkeley police investigator who testified at the hearing.

Martin's remains were found Aug. 31 in a field off Smokey Bear Road, after investigators were led there by Works. Works said he had dropped off Martin there but denied killing him, investigators have said.

Martin's wallet and some clothing he had brought down from Berkeley were found in Works' apartment. Several "900" calls were made from Works' apartment using Martin's calling card, investigators have said.

Works has claimed that Martin forgot his belongings in the car and had allowed Works to use the phone card as a gift in exchange for the ride, according to testimony at the hearing.

The other sexual assaults are believed to have occurred in August 1995 in Tujunga Canyon, and in October 1994 on the Ronald Reagan Freeway near Chatsworth.

In the more recent case, Works is suspected of taking an 18-year-old male he met through a homosexual dating service to a remote area of the canyon and demanding sex at knifepoint.

In the 1994 case, a friend who was then 17 accused Works of molesting him in a truck and then abandoning him naked on the side of the freeway after he was able to escape.

Goldstein said Sheriff's Department investigators also have uncovered sexual assaults against two other men. He said new charges will be filed.

At the time of his arrest, Works was living with his mother and wife in an apartment complex off Sierra Highway.