TRAILER MURDER

Jeffrey Scott Klinefelter, was 44 when he was sentenced to 50 years to life for shooting a business associate who pissed him off because the defendant was apparently being bullied by the bigger victim.

Jason Lane, 49, of Hemet, Ca had gone to Klinefelter's trailer in Lake Elsinore, Ca. the morning of Jan. 25, 2008.

Klinefelter, incensed because Lane planned to auction vehicles on the defendant's property, was waiting for him with a .45-caliber pistol and shot him in the head.

Klinefelter had earlier sent his girlfriend for coffee and breakfast and when Shari Stokes returned, she saw a puddle of blood and "All I knew is he was bleeding from that hole," in his head, Stokes testified during trial.

Stokes originally was to be prosecuted for murder but she pleaded guilty to being an accessory and received three years probation and 199 weekend days in jail.

She testified that she took Lane's legs and helped move him out of the trailer and into the victim's own van, then the two drove away and dumped the body nearby.

Stokes said that Klinefelter told her he was going to "kill Kevin."

Though the defense tried to show that Klinefelter was in fear for his life, the prosecution proved that the defendant was never in imminent danger and had deliberately intended to shoot the victim.

Klinefelter was convicted of first-degree murder, though no special circumstances -- which would have meant the death penalty or life without parole -- were charged.

The defendant was turned in by his own mother, to whom he confessed the shooting. The mother called authorities after she spoke with her son, who was taken into custody without incident.