Lake Elsinore Man To Stand Trial In Murder Case

Jury selection is slated to get under way a week from today for the trial of a man and woman accused of fatally stabbing a 60-year- old Anza resident, then squatting on his property.

Chris Darrel Duve, 31, of Lake Elsinore and Angela May Shaver, 48, of Meadowbrook could face 50 years to life in prison if convicted in the 2006 death of Paul "Pete" Cline.

Both defendants are charged with first-degree murder and weapons allegations and are being held in lieu of $1 million bail -- Duve at the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta, and Shaver at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Kelly Hansen heard pretrial motions in the case today and is expected to hear additional motions tomorrow. The first panel of prospective jurors will likely be summoned to the Southwest Justice Center next Monday.

The defendants will have separate juries because one allegedly implicated the other in the case.

Cline was killed sometime between Feb. 15 and March 5, 2006. According to a trial brief filed by Deputy District Attorney Blaine Hopp, the victim knew Duve and Shaver, and the pair allegedly attacked him with a knife in his house at 36990 Old Cary Road.

According to the brief, after his arrest, Duve allegedly admitted to investigators that there was a plan to kill Cline, who was stabbed multiple times, apparently to steal his assets. The victim had reported the fraudulent use of his bank card card to sheriff's deputies a few days before his death, Hopp said.

In her interview with investigators, Shaver alleged that Cline had made unwanted sexual advances toward her, prompting her to stab him, according to court papers.

After the attack, the defendants, with the help of several friends -- all of whom are testifying for the prosecution -- removed the victim's body, dumping it on a hillside southeast of Anza, prosecutors allege.

Tips that Cline had been murdered prompted investigators to obtain and serve a search warrant at his residence on March 21, 2006, and evidence showed Duve and Shaver had been staying in the house, according to the brief.

Duve later took detectives to the location of the victim's remains, the brief states.

The defendant has prior convictions for auto theft and receiving stolen property, while Shaver has a prior federal conviction for identity theft, according to court records.