PALA: Woman killed at reservation wasn't intended target

By DAN SIMMONS - Staff Writer | Tuesday, September 2, 2008 10:45 PM PDT ∞

PALA INDIAN RESERVATION ---- A woman killed by a single gunshot wound Friday morning was not the intended target but a bystander, said sheriff's Homicide Lt. Dennis Brugos.

Elizabeth Culbertson of Pauma was sitting in the passenger seat of a blue BMW alongside a companion, Fredrick Bostick, at a junkyard on Lilac Extension Road near Pala Casino that morning, Brugos said. Shortly before 11 a.m., another man pulled up in a white truck, got out and approached the pair with a handgun, he said.

"The shooter actually went to the driver's side window and fired through that window," Brugos said Tuesday.

The bullet struck Bostick, 44, who was in the driver's seat, but it went through him and lodged into Culbertson, 35.

Bostick was treated for his wound and released later Friday from Palomar Medical Center in Escondido. Culbertson was declared dead at the scene. The county medical examiner's office said she died of a gunshot wound to the torso.

Sheriff's homicide investigators believe the alleged shooter, Frank Lewis, intended to kill Bostick, Brugos said. The two men knew each other and Friday's shooting resulted from an earlier dispute, possibly involving a love triangle between the two men and another woman, the lieutenant said.

But instead of killing Bostick, the bullet struck a fatal blow to Culbertson.

"I knew it had to be a mistake because she's not the type of person who would be in trouble or hurt anyone," said Culbertson's mother, Grace, of Poway.

Deputies from the San Diego County Fugitive Task Force arrested Lewis, 39, at 9:25 p.m. Sunday in Anza, San Diego County Sheriff's Department officials said Monday. He was in a car with his mother when caught, Brugos said. He was booked into Vista Jail on Sunday night and is being held without bail.

Culbertson's family members expressed grief at the loss but appreciation for law enforcement officials, who tracked the case over Labor Day weekend.

"Everyone jumped on it right away," said her cousin, Jonathan Pierce of San Diego. "Not everyone gets that attention."

Contact staff writer Dan Simmons at (760) 740-5426 or dsimmons@nctimes.com.

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