KILLER OR WITNESS? JURY TO DECIDE IN DOUBLE SLAYINGS.

Byline: Holly Edwards Staff Writer

PASADENA - A 15-year-old accused of bludgeoning two teen-age boys to death was depicted by prosecutors Monday as a brutal killer out to avenge a drug deal gone awry, while the defense attorney said his client merely witnessed the crime in a drug- and alcohol-induced stupor.

The conflicting scenarios were presented as opening arguments began in Pasadena Superior Court in the double-murder trial of Michael Hrayr Demirdjian. Demirdjian, who turns 16 today, is charged with two counts of murder and robbery with the special-circumstance allegations of multiple murders, torture and murder during a robbery.

The La Crescenta teen-ager faces a possible life prison term without parole if convicted of the charges and special-circumstance allegations. He is ineligible for the death penalty because he is a juvenile.

``The underbelly of this case is a drug deal gone bad, a rip,'' Deputy District Attorney Steve Barshop said. ``The overview of this case is a robbery, a murder.''

The jury of 10 women and two men sat solemnly in front of enlarged pictures of the beaten and bloody bodies of 13-year-old Chris McCulloch and 14-year-old Blaine Talmo. The boys' bodies were found last July 23 on the playground of Valley View Elementary School in Glendale, which was closed for the summer.

Barshop also showed the jury what are believed to be the weapons: a rock weighing nearly 18 pounds and another weighing about two pounds, both with blood on them, and a 35- to 40-pound bench that was found on top of the 13-year-old.

Demirdjian's attorney, Charles Mathews, disputed Barshop's account, saying his client merely witnessed the slayings after smoking marijuana and drinking wine with his friends.

Mathews argued that another teen named Adam Walker actually killed the two youths in ``a psychotic rage.''

Walker was originally arrested in connection with the killings but later released for lack of evidence.

``(Demirdjian) went home and couldn't believe what had happened,'' Mathews told the jury. ``He'd snuck out of the house and had seen this horrific thing, and he knew he might be next if he stayed.''

But Barshop said Demirdjian had wanted to buy a few ounces of high- potency marijuana known as ``chronic'' from Walker, and that his connection was Talmo and McCulloch, whom he had known for just a few weeks.

Barshop said Demirdjian had $500 and needed $160 more to complete the deal. When Demirdjian showed up for a meeting with Walker and an unidentified person, Walker and his associate took Demirdjian's money without giving him any drugs, Barshop said.

``Within 15 minutes of the burn, on Walker's cell phone or pager comes up '187' (the Penal Code section for murder),'' he said.

When Talmo's body was found, his pocket was turned inside out, Barshop said, because ``they were looking for money. They took money from Blaine Talmo.''

At the time of his death, Talmo is believed to have had close to $200 on him that his father had given him, according to the prosecutor.

However, Mathews said his client was regularly given money by his family and did not need to rob anybody.

``He's a 15-year-old with mixed emotions like any teen-ager,'' Mathews said. ``But he will tell you in his own words that he did not harm Chris and he did not harm Blaine.

City News Service contributed to this story.