It was murder, prosecutors said, when Richard Allen Rodola poured gasoline over his girlfriend, Pamela Myers, and then set her on fire.
It was an accident, Rodola's attorney said: His client had poured the gas only to scare Myers, but he never flicked the flame that killed her.
Those were the arguments set out in a Howard County Circuit courtroom Tuesday on the opening day of the trial of Rodola, a 50-year-old homeless man who is facing one count of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree assault in the death of the 37-year-old Myers.
Opening day also included testimony form the prosecution's first witness, a homeless man who had been living in the same wooded area in North Laurel as Rodola and Myers and who said he saw Rodola douse Myers, grab a lighter and start the fatal blaze on Oct. 23, 2010.
Myers remained hospitalized for nearly a month afterward with burns on 52 percent of her body, prosecutors said, and needed eight surgeries. She died on Nov. 18.
"She had an entire life ahead of her," said prosecutor Katherine Winfree. "A life that was taken away from her."
Rodola and Myers had been living in a wooded area near the 9100 block of Washington Boulevard, east of Route 1. Living in a nearby tent was another homeless couple, Michael Sanders and Melissa McCulley.
Sanders testified Tuesday about an argument the night before the incident, when Myers accused McCulley of having an affair with Rodola. The men broke up the altercation, and Sanders said he saw Rodola take Myers back to their tent, then soon heard her say, "No, no, Rick. Please, no," followed by the sound of a slap.
The next afternoon, Sanders said, the four were returning home from a nearby homeless drop-in center when Sanders and McCulley split off to pick up beer and liquor. When they came back to the woods, they smelled gasoline — which was used to fuel a generator — and saw a soaking wet Myers seated on a chair, Sanders said.
Myers said Rodola had poured the gas on her, according to Sanders. Rodola gave Myers a cell phone so she could call a friend and leave. But after telling her friend about the gas, Rodola poured the remaining liter of fuel from a two-liter soda bottle, took a lighter that had been in Myers' hand, and set her on fire, Sanders said.
"I saw a big ball of fire," he said Tuesday, pausing for a few moments and breaking down into tears.
Rodola's defense attorneys, however, are questioning the credibility of both Sanders and McCulley, who also is scheduled to testify. George Psoras Jr. said their stories have changed over time. He described Sanders as often drunk and McCulley as an alcoholic who also used drugs.
Psoras said Myers had a cigarette in her mouth and a lighter in her hand. "At some point in time she becomes engulfed in flames," he said.
He did not dispute that Rodola poured gas on Myers, saying it had been done to frighten her and get her to leave. The fire, however, was "an accident," he said, and both Psoras and Sanders said Rodola tried to put out the flames.
"When an accident occurs, it doesn't equal murder. An accident doesn't equal intent," Psoras said. "People that want to murder somebody don't jump on the fire to put her out. That's not murder. That's love. What happened was a horrible accident."
Under cross-examination from Psoras, Sanders said he had not heard or seen any arguing between Rodola and Myers on the day of the fire. And the defense attorney noted a difference between Sanders' testimony in court and what he had told a police officer on Oct. 23 — that Rodola had thrown the lighter on Myers.
"Either [the officer] quoted you wrong, or you forgot what you told her that night," Psoras said.
Sanders responded: "It's been a year and four months. He didn't throw it at her. He threw it away to try to get rid of the evidence. It happened so fast. Everything jumbled up."
Said Psoras: "Isn't it jumbled up because you're not telling the truth?"
Sanders' testimony was scheduled to continue Wednesday. The trial is expected to last for two weeks.