Morgan Says He Felt Sorry After Killing Woman

SANTA ANA —  Convicted killer Edward Patrick Morgan apologized Monday for beating a young woman to death outside an Orange nightclub two years ago, and told jurors he has mixed feelings about whether he should die for his crime.

“It really doesn’t matter,” he said in response to his lawyer’s question about the possibility of receiving a death sentence.

“Do you want to live?” defense attorney Julian W. Bailey asked.

“Not necessarily,” Morgan responded.

“Why?” the attorney asked.

“I guess self-value,” Morgan said. “Sometimes it’s hard to live with mistakes. So guilt, maybe.”

Morgan appeared calm as he testified for the first time Monday about the killing of 23-year-old Leanora Wong, saying he recalled little about what happened after he left the club with Wong because he had “too much to drink.”

The 30-year-old parolee already has been convicted of first-degree murder and an Orange County Superior Court jury is considering whether Morgan should be executed or spend the rest of his life in prison.

His testimony drew an immediate challenge by Deputy Dist. Atty. Lewis Rosenblum, who asked Morgan if he felt remorse while using a sharp weapon to sexually assault the young woman, or while repeatedly denying to detectives and reporters that he was involved in the slaying.

“What exactly, sir, are you remorseful for?” Rosenblum asked.

“Taking a life,” Morgan answered.

Morgan said he was sorry from the time he woke up on the morning following the May 20, 1994 murder, even though he didn’t remember much after striking the young woman, whom he had just met.

“Why did you hit her?” the prosecutor.

“I do not know,” Morgan said.

Morgan’s defense attorney, who limited his questions to the subject of remorse, repeatedly objected to many of the prosecutor’s questions as being beyond the scope of the defendant’s initial testimony.

Superior Court Judge Richard L. Weatherspoon upheld many of those objections, meaning that Morgan did not have to answer questions about such things as his past three convictions on sexual assault charges or where he hid the weapon he used to assault Wong, a Huntington Beach woman who had just moved from her family’s home to help manage a footwear store.

The prosecutor, in proceedings outside the jury’s presence, called Morgan’s remorse “contrived” and his memory lapse “fabricated.”

Earlier Monday, Morgan’s attorney called several witnesses to testify about the defendant’s learning and temper problems.

The defense presented school records indicating Morgan was “emotionally disturbed,” had a poor relationship with his parents and was placed in special education classes throughout his schooling in La Palma.

Two of his special education teachers described Morgan, a high school wrestler and football player, as an average student who never posed a behavioral problem in class.

A high school friend offered another side of Morgan, describing his former buddy’s temper as “very volatile,” especially if he had been drinking.

“He would lose complete control,” said Chris Morales, who told jurors he saw his friend involved in at least a dozen fights with other boys. “He just didn’t know what he was doing when he’d lose control.”

Closing arguments in the trial’s penalty phase are set for this morning, and jurors may begin deliberating his fate later in the day.

The same jury deliberated two hours before finding Morgan guilty of first-degree murder, kidnapping and sexual assault. The jurors also found that the killing occurred during a kidnapping and sexual attack with a foreign object, findings that make him eligible for the death penalty.

During the trial’s three-day guilt phase, the defense contended Morgan did not plan to kill Wong but acted in a “blind rage.”

The prosecutor said Morgan deliberately led Wong to a secluded area outside the now-defunct Australian Beach Club and beat her, stomping her body and smashing her skull against a concrete wall. Her body also showed signs of strangulation. Part of the attack was captured by a surveillance camera.