On September 15, 2012, Ronald Michael Hitchcock was arrested for murder and since that time the wheels of justice have ground ever so slowly. But that could change next month. (File Photo)
By G. T. Houts
Big Bear Lake, CA – Ronald Michael Hitchcock was 56 years old when he was arrested for the murder of his girlfriend Deborah Ann Crouch, 53, on September 15, 2012. He’s now 60 and has been in custody for almost 1,350 days at the West Valley Detention Center with bail remaining at $1 million.
Countless delays in the murder proceedings may finally be behind Ronald Michael Hitchcock. (File Photo)
A series of delays — some at the request of his attorney, some by stipulation and still others due to conflicting court cases — have delayed Hitchcock’s proceedings going to trial.
But now, Judge Harold T. Wilson, Jr. has scheduled two hearings that should lead to Hitchcock’s trial for Crouch’s murder after the Erwin Lake woman and her dog were found deceased in Big Bear Lake.
HEARINGS SCHEDULED
Judge Wilson has added a pre-trial hearing to the court calendar on Friday, June 24, at 8:30 a.m. in Department S-16.
The court has also set a trial readiness hearing for Friday, July 15, at 8:30 a.m. in the same courtroom.
Judge Wilson’s scheduling on Friday, May 20, could lead to a jury trial for Hitchcock. . .at long last.
THE CASE
Hitchcock is facing two felony charges after Crouch’s body and that of a dog were retrieved from a submerged car in Big Bear Lake on September 15, 2012.
Big Bear Sheriff’s deputies responded to the Swim Beach area of Meadow Park at about 6 a.m. on that date and made contact with a man (Hitchcock) — who was inside the fencing at Swim Beach and yelling — he explained his vehicle had crashed through the locked front gate and into the lake, according to a Big Bear Sheriff’s Station press release issued following the incident.
Sheriff’s Aviation’s 40-King was dispatched about 7 a.m. and, once over the scene, mapped the GPS coordinates of the car’s location.
The car was located about 20 yards out from the beach and members of the department’s dive team went into Big Bear Lake and found the vehicle, which contained the female victim (Crouch) and a dog.
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