"I was waiting for the day Neil was going to kill me"; Matthew Brown infers who Alderpoint 8 leader was and who they reported to

Dressed in black pants and a white shirt, Matthew Brown took the stand in his own defense yesterday. His attorney, Mr. Elvine-Kreiss asked him, "how are you doing? Brown responded, "I'm hanging in there." His eyes teared up as he responded and he dabbed his eyes with a tissue. Often during his testimony on direct, Brown's eyes would well up and he would wipe his eyes.

Mr. Elvine-Kreiss questioned him about his family, growing up, how he met Johnson and before Brown talked about his time in Humboldt, Mr. Elvine-Kreiss brought up two prior convictions which occurred after Brown finished high school. Brown is 30 years old, he was 23 years old when he "stole a vehicle" in 2006 and in 2013, he plead to a charge of "false imprisonment". He did not go to prison for either of these offenses but he did go to prison for violation of his probation.

"What brought you to Humboldt County?" asked Mr. Elvine-Kreiss.

"Work," responded Brown. He said that he knew Scott Johnson since 2006. Johnson knew his "mom and her old man" and Johnson had him visit once in 2007 and then last year asked him to come up to work on his property. Initially, he was only supposed to be here for a month and his initial duties were operating heavy equipment, tree work and cleaning up trash. Brown said he stayed longer and worked for Johnson for the 8 months because he started a relationship with "Kara"  and there was a lot of work to be done. He put up a gate, security cameras and cleared the brush. Other people living on the property lived in trailers and had access to the house to use the kitchen and bathroom.

Joey Johnson (Richards), Scott Johnson's son lived in a trailer and grew marijuana, said Brown. He saids he met Decker in 2007 when he was visiting and then within a couple of weeks of coming up last year.

"Did you shoot Neil Decker," said Mr. Elvine-Kreiss.
"I did," said Brown.
When he was arrested 3 days later, Mr. Elvine-Kreiss asked, "Did you lie to law enforcement?" Brown said yes and Mr. Elvine-Kreiss asked him why."I was very scared. I don't know."
Mr.Elvine-Kreiss asked if his past experience with law enforcement impacted that and Brown responded yes. Then Mr. Elvine-Kreiss asked him if he had been read his miranda rights and he said no. "So you were not under oath?" referring to the interviews the jury had seen. Mr. Elvine-Kreiss continued, "You are under oath today. Will you tell the truth?" Brown said, "Yes."

Mr. Elvine Kreiss," When you first came up here this last time to work for Scott, what were your general feelings of the area?"

"It was very secluded. People were very different. Very standoffish," said Brown. He characterized his relationship with Johnson as "good" and Johnson's girlfriend "Hana" as "allright."

"Did Scott Johnson tell any stories about violence and aggression in this area that impacted you?"

"The thing that scared me most was that he said cops don't come to the area," said Brown. "People take activities into their own hands." Brown said Johnson told him about his neighbor who put a gun in his mouth when Johnson asked him not to cross into his property. He told me about Neil shooting Mr. Benson." Greg Benson is a witness in this case.

Mr. Elvine-Kreiss asked Brown if he was afraid of Johnson. Brown responded, "Not at all." Brown referred to Johnson as "dad."

"Did you look up to him," asked Mr. Elvine-Kreiss.
"I did," said Brown.
"Did you love him?" said Mr. Elvine-Kreiss.
"I did," said Brown.

Mr. Elvine-Kreiss asked Brown that in his conversations with Johnson, " was there any discussion about taking the law into his own hands if he had to?"

"They try to keep the police out of there as much as possible by taking the law into their own hands," was Brown's response.

Then Mr. Elvine-Kreiss asked Brown about "Quinton." This is a person whose name has come up in the Garrett Rodriguez case. Brown said that "Neil and Bob" were driving a car and that "a man was blindfolded and he had injuries" and that had no direct knowledge of who this was other than being told who this man was and that Brown was told that "Neal and Bob went to his house and kidnapped him to have him show them where Garrett Rodriguez's body was"

"Are you familiar with the Alderpoint 8?" Mr. Elvine-Kreiss asked Brown.
"I am," he said.
"Do you know the names of the Alderpoint 8?" asked Mr. Elvine-Kreiss.
"I do," said Brown.
Brown said that the Alderpoint 8 would all report to Johnson. "He was the one they reported to, I was with him when they reported. They called themselves the Great 8.I saw them bring Quinton blindfolded.  "

Mr. Elvine-Kreiss asked if all the members were present when Quinton was brought and Brown said "only Neil and Bob." Brown then said he had seen Decker "on occasion with a gun." He said Johnson did not keep guns in his house except for the one under the headboard near his bed.

Brown then filled in details about the pepper-spray incident.  He said at first Decker was appreciative of him being there but once the gate was installed and that Brown wasn't leaving that he realized "he could not do the things he did when I was not around. like trashing the property; leaving the gate unlocked bringing whoever he wanted to the property." Other witnesses have corroborated Brown's testimony. In their testimony, they left out details and gave no specifics. On the stand, Brown filled in those details. You can read the testimony in other posts about this case on this blog.

Brown then described the problems between him and Decker. "At first, it was verbal abuse, he referred to me as 'bitch boy' and 'tweaker." He did not make any physical threats until the wrestling incident which occurred over the gate. Brown said that Decker said to him that he was sick of Brown "being a control freak."

The pepper spray incident happened a month before Decker was shot and the wrestling incident a month prior. Brown said that he had told Kara Williams (Kessler) that he was afraid of Decker. he had told Sarrie Stillwell and her dad, Michael Stillwell was present.  he then got a gun from Joe Shibler (another witness in the case) after the wrestling incident.

Brown said that Decker threatened him on "a daily basis. He would say he would knock me out and butt-fuck me me like in prison". After the wrestling incident, Brown said that Decker "swore he would kill me."

Brown said that when he came up here to work, he was clean and sober.  This is the same testimony others gave. They all did meth and Brown said that after he came up here, "he was doing meth every morning."

He said he carried his gun everywhere because "I was waiting for the day when Neil was going to kill me."

Brown said initially Johnson gave him a gun for protection and to "protect others"  but a month prior to the shooting incident he took it away and did not tell Brown why.

On the night of the incident. Brown said that Johnson's girlfriend "Hana" and Decker's girlfriend "Melissa" came to his girlfriend Sarrie Stillwell's house and said "Scott wanted to talk to me." This was around 9 p.m. He went up around 10 p.m. Brown said it was not normal for him to go up to Johnson's this late and when he drove up, he parked in a way where he would have a safe route to leave and that his headlights were bright and Decker who was outside said he was irritated because the light was shining in his eyes.  Brown said he could not remember the exact words but that Decker was "very agressive but made no direct threats." He mentioned "Melissa, Lion and Bob" were in the house.

In previous testimony, other witnesses have testified that Brown did meth earlier that day and so did Decker. Another red flag that Brown had was that John son wanted to talk in his bedroom, usually he met with people in the living room. He said he had a shotgun and a toy gun that "looked real." He said he cannot remember who but that someone asked him why he "brought two guns to talk to his dad."

Kreiss asked him about Decker's demeanor that evening. Brown said, "He was pretty much angry whenever I was around. He never gave me the respect I gave him."

Then Brown said that he was talking to Johnson, he was talking about the welder that Decker stole from Johnson. Anther witness, "Hana" said that Decker (who was upstairs in the office area across the bedroom with "Hana") went in twice in the room and told Brown to mind his own business but Brown said that Decker came in twice and glared at him but he came in a third time and said, "I need to keep his name out of my mouth. and that he was sick of me and that it's over."

Then Brown said Decker reached behind his back (like he had many times before; those time Decker acted like he was reaching for a gun).  Given what he had just heard from Decker, Brown was afraid that that was the moment he had been afraid of and that he was going to get killed or shot. "I thought that was the moment."

That is when he shot Decker.

"Did you feel forced to shoot Neil at that moment," asked Mr. Elvine-Kreiss.

"I felt cornered" said Brown. "I had nothing to gain from it."