Facing attempted murder charge, Hein testifies about shooting

PALMER — Asked if she thought it necessary for Clay Hein to fire a gun at a Chevy Malibu as it exited the commuter parking lot on Trunk Road last year, 17-year-old Amanda Gaylor said no.

“I don’t think it was necessary. But, from first instincts, when the headlights were on Cord, I thought the same thing,” Gaylor testified Tuesday in the trial of Clay Hein, 20, of Wasilla, who faces attempted murder and assault charges for firing at the Malibu.

Asked by Hein’s attorney, Josh Fannon, to clarify, Gaylor said, “From my first instinct I thought, ‘oh my gosh!’ I thought they were going to run him over.”

By “him” Gaylor was referring to her boyfriend, Cord Lewis, who had started a fight with the Malibu’s occupants and, at one point, was in the path of the car as it sped off.

Hein and Lewis had gone to the parking lot early in the morning of last April 29 in an attempt to recover money from Scott Payne and Josh Bussell, according to both sides in the trial. But the case appears to hinge on the question of why Hein shot up the Malibu.

On the one side, Assistant District Attorney Mike Walsh is arguing Hein arrived to help intimidate the two men and the attempted murder charge is appropriate.

On the other, Fannon is arguing Hein believed the Malibu was going to run over Lewis, his roommate. Hein shot at the car to get it to stop. Shooting up a car in most other circumstances would be illegal, Fannon argued. But in an attempt to stop someone from dying or being seriously injured, Hein’s actions were justified, the attorney said.

So far this week a jury has heard testimony from most of the involved parties — Gaylor, Payne, Lewis and Stephanie Carlson, whose car Lewis drove to the lot. All had all taken the witness stand. Hein testified Thursday.

Fannon, in his opening statements, said jurors would also hear from Hein’s father, a firearms instructor who taught his children from an early age how to be safe with guns.

Walsh is urging the jury to focus on the facts of the case. His opening statements were mainly a preview of the evidence he planned to present. In the end, he argued jurors will find that Hein is guilty of attempted murder.

Lewis, in his turn on the witness stand, said he started the fight that ended in the shooting. He said he showed up to the lot and, when Bussell and Payne arrived, he got out and leaned into the car. He tried to take the keys from the ignition.

Failing that, “I grabbed Josh,” he said. “I think I grabbed him by the shirt and I hit his head against the window, I think twice.”

Then Bussell threw the car into reverse, Lewis testified. The door pulled him along with the car. Somehow, he managed to move around the door and he went to the ground. The shots started and, at that instant, he began to run away from the car.

Hein’s trial is expected to continue today.