The man accused of shooting and killing a man and 11-year-old boy at a beach campground in Morro Bay will not have legal rulings about his past shown to the jury during the guilt phase of his trial, a San Luis Obispo Superior Court judge ruled Monday.

Stephen Arthur Deflaun is facing trial for allegedly killing Stephen Wells, 37, and his 11-year-old nephew, Jerry Rios Jr., on July 8, 2001, after a dispute over a camping spot at Morro Strand State Beach.

Deflaun was arrested at the scene but has not faced trial until this this month.

Deflaun is charged with two counts of murder with a firearm and one count of assaulting a peace officer with a firearm. He entered not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity pleas to the charges.

The 63-year-old, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, was never expected to be competent enough to stand trial, a forensic psychologist said in a 2004 court hearing, but that changed in April 2022.

However, the fact that Deflaun was incompetent to stand trial will not be shown to the jury, at least during this phase of the trial, San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Jacquelyn Duffy ruled.

In December 1982, Deflaun was found not guilty by reason of insanity in Massachusetts for possession of a knife, but the circumstances of the alleged crime are unclear, court documents say. Deflaun was 23 at the time.

That will also not be shown to jurors at this time, Duffy ruled.

The trial is currently in the “guilt phase,” meaning jurors are only weighing whether Deflaun’s actions were factually responsible for the deaths of Rios Jr. and Wells. If he is found guilty, the trial will then move to the “sanity phase,” where jurors will hear more testimony about Deflaun’s mental health history, which may include his past incompetence and not guilty by reason of insanity verdict.

Defendant said ‘I’m so sorry’ after shooting, former sheriff deputy says

Robert Burgeson was a deputy for the San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Office in 2001. The day of the shooting, he was patrolling in Cambria when he received a call for backup at an officer-involved shooting at Morro Strand State Beach.

When he arrived to the scene, it was “general chaos,” Burgeson said. After he helped secure the crime scene, he rode with Deflaun to the hospital.

According to the report he wrote at the time, Deflaun repeated, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” to the EMTs who were helping him in the ambulance on the way to Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center.

Deflaun did not specify what he was sorry for and was not speaking directly to Burgeson, Burgeson said.

Burgeson also stayed with Deflaun at the hospital, he testified. According to Burgeson’s report, Deflaun was talking with a nurse at the hospital and made the following statements:

• “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry.”

• “I’m in so much trouble.”

• “The police tried to kill me.”

• “I threw the gun away and they shot me.”

• In response to the nurse asking what kind of gun Deflaun had, he responded, “I have a big gun.”

Burgeson said these statements occurred sometime between 7:40 p.m. and 10:22 p.m., according to his report, and were not all said one after another.

Man and boy died of gunshot wounds to the head, investigators say

Two former coroner’s investigators for the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office also testified in court Monday about their findings in the case.

Brian Hascall led the investigation into Jerry Rios Jr.’s death, and Steven Harris led the death investigation into Wells.

Both Rios Jr. and Wells died of bullet wounds to the head, the men testified.

Hascall arrived on the scene, where he first saw Rios Jr.’s body, he testified. He then helped with the autopsy the following day around 2 p.m.

Rios Jr. was shot twice, Hascall said.

One bullet entered left of the center of the 11-year-old’s forehead, traveled through his brain and exited behind Rios Jr.’s right ear, Hascall said. The other entered the right of Rios Jr.’s jawline, traveled through the bottom portion of the brain and cut through the top three vertebrae of the cervical spine and exited in the same area behind Rios Jr.’s right ear.

Small burns from gun powder, known as stippling, were found on Rios Jr.’s face, which means Rios Jr. was close to the gun when it was fired.

Hascall said it was unclear just how close Rios Jr. was to the weapon, but he added that the stippling meant he was feet away rather than yards away.

Harris testified he was originally dispatched to the scene at around 7:40 p.m. but was rerouted to Sierra Vista because Wells had died in the emergency room.

Wells’ autopsy took place around 9 a.m. the following day, Harris said.

Wells had four bullet wounds, Harris said.

One bullet entered the top left of Wells’ head and was recovered lodged behind his right ear and another grazed the right side of Well’s nose before entering under his right eye and exiting near his right ear.

One of these two shots were responsible for Wells’ death, Harris said, but is unclear which one.

Another bullet entered Well’s right bicep and exited his right tricep while the other entered above Well’s left knee, went through his patella, then exited below his knee, Harris said.

Wells had stippling on his face and right hand, Harris said.

Harris said Wells seemed to be standing when he was shot in the head and the face, but lying down when he was shot in the knee. He said the bicep shot could have occurred while Wells was standing or lying down.

When asked about his expertise to form the opinion about where Wells’ body was when he was shot, Harris said he was basing it off of “common sense” and “professional experience.”

Current San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office investigator Paul Kelly also took the stand Monday. A video of him walking from Deflaun’s campsite to the Morro Strand State Beach entrance kiosk was shown to the jury, though he said it did not and could not reflect Deflaun’s mind, demeanor or behavior the day of the shooting.

Kelly also showed the jury the gun Deflaun allegedly used in the shooting — a .357 Magnum revolver. A video of him loading the gun normally and with a speedloader was shown to the jury.

One empty and one full speedloader was found on Deflaun at the time of his arrest, according to court testimony. A speedloader loads a revolver with six bullets simultaneously rather than one at a time.

Kelly testified he has no personal knowledge of how, when or whether Deflaun loaded his gun, shot his gun, discarded bullets or reloaded the gun.

What’s next

The trial is scheduled to resume Tuesday at 9 a.m. The defense’s case is expected to begin Tuesday afternoon and is expected to include expert witnesses and Deflaun himself.