From Andy Furillo:
One or more gunmen early today shot up the residence of a Del Paso Heights man who testified Monday in a Sacramento murder trial, police said.
Sacramento police spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong said officers responded to a 1:23 a.m. call at the Elm Street house where the witness, Brandon Jay Boyer, who also has acted as an informant in recent years for local police and federal drug agents, had lived.
Authorities relocated Boyer last week as a result of his testimony against accused murderer Myron Jerome Hardy.
Leong said officers found "several bullet holes in the house." Initial reports did not indicate if anyone was in the home, Leong said.
Boyer testified in open court that he saw Hardy shoot and kill Danny Hickman at a Del Paso Heights street party in the early-morning hours of Jan. 1, 2007. He also testified that he saw Hardy try and ditch some of the clothing that he was wearing during the shooting.
Federal defenders who represented Boyer in a drug case had sought to prevent the Sacramento district attorney's office from releasing his identity, saying that he was in danger because of his past work on behalf of local homicide investigators and federal drug agents.
At an evidentiary hearing last Tuesday in Sacramento Superior Court, Boyer testified that "My family's in danger -- by people on the street" as a result of his cooperation with authorities.
The Bee published a story Sunday about Boyer's testimony and his history as an informant.
Asked if he thought that Boyer's testimony and past history or the publication of Sunday's story may have contributed to this morning's shooting, Leong said, "Although we can't tie the shooting directly to that, we certainly believe it did not help that his name was exposed."
The District Attorney's Office, through spokeswoman Shelly Orio, declined comment.
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