A Sonoma County man on trial for the killing Rohnert Park guitar maker Taku Sakashita testified Tuesday that he was at a friend's house "talking about his Harley and smoking some weed" at the time of the slaying.
Joshua Begley, 29, also testified that a pair of work boots found at his ex-girlfriend's house with Takashita's blood on them were not his.
The ex-convict with a history of eluding police said he collected the Wolverine-brand boots while "dumpster diving" a night after the killing at a Martin Avenue industrial park not far from where Takashita's body was discovered.
He said he picked them up, put them in his green Jeep Cherokee and later placed them on Sheryl Bishop's porch, where they were seized by police.
"They looked like an expensive pair of boots," Begley said under questioning from his lawyer, Chuck Ogulnik. "Nothing I've ever had before."
Begley, who testified for more than five hours, is is charged with murder in the killing the 43-year-old Sakashita on Feb. 11 during a robbery at his workshop. The Japanese native made fine guitars that he sold to musicians including Boz Scaggs for as much as $30,000.
The prosecution's case, which concluded Tuesday, has rested largely on circumstantial evidence collected at the scene. Sakashita's body was draped with a green coat another ex-girlfriend said looked like one Begley owned. In the pocket was a bloody knife and a glove that she also said were similar to ones Begley possessed.
On Tuesday, however, Begley testified he'd never seen the coat or the knife before. He said the glove looked similar to one he found stuffed inside the boots but that it wasn't his.
He testified that on Feb. 11 he had just finished his first day on a new job, earning $22 an hour. At about 8:15 p.m., he said he went to the Rohnert Park home of friend Steve Vanleuven and hung out in his garage for about an hour.
Police said Sakashita was stabbed to death at 8:30 p.m., while on a long-distance phone call.
After visiting with Vanleuven, Begley said he drove to Santa Rosa to meet a friend at bar on Mendocino Avenue but turned around before he got there and went to Bishop's apartment, where he spent the night.
He said he spent part of the next night searching dumpsters. It was something he did frequently outside of office parks and apartment complexes, he said.
Outside a business park on Martin Avenue near the intersection of Labath Avenue, he spied the boots sitting next to some discarded furniture. They were wet from rain and he didn't notice blood stains on them, he said.
Begley brought them to Bishop's apartment. He was arrested there four nights later.
On cross-examination, prosecutor Tashawn Sanders questioned Begley's timing. She said cell phone records showed text messages between Begley and his friend at the bar happened two hours later than Begley said.
She also grilled Begley about the location of the boots and asked for details about other items near the dumpster.
Her cross-examination will continue Wednesday afternoon. Then, Begley's lawyer is expected to call Vanleuvan, who has a record of felony convictions and is serving time in the county jail.
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