MARTINEZ, Calif. — Three months after Pamela Vitale was killed in her own home and a teenage neighbor was arrested on murder charges, a sinister "to do" list was allegedly discovered in the boy's bedroom.

"I was just aghast at what I was seeing," testified David Curiel, a man who says he lived with three families in the same home as 17-year-old Scott Dyleski. "It was a list of 'what to do.'"

Curiel read the list aloud in court, six lines in length:

"Knock-out/kidnap
Question
Keep captive to confirm PINs
Dirty work
Dispose of evidence
Cut up and bury"

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The judge did not grant media requests to examine the exhibit.

Dyleski has pleaded not guilty to the Oct. 15, 2005, bludgeoning death of Vitale, 52, who was married to Daniel Horowitz, a well-known and respected criminal defense attorney.

Hearings are now underway to determine whether there is enough evidence to bring the boy to trial. Prosecutors say they intend to try him as an adult, which means he could face life in prison if tried and convicted.

Some 17 witnesses — detectives, neighbors and friends of the defendant — have been called in two days, with authorities revealing graphic details about Vitale's violent struggle against her killer, who used a piece of crown moulding to beat her to death.

Wednesday's testimony appeared to focus on prosecution theories about a motive — what would cause a young boy to allegedly kill a neighbor with whom he had no apparent relationship, carve a symbol into her back, take a shower in her home and leave the scene.

A discovery

Curiel, a personal trainer, said that some 12 people, including Dyleski and his mother, lived on the property in rural Lafayette owned by Curiel's brother, Fred Curiel, a computer consultant.

After Dyleski's arrest, after detectives searched his room, and after the bedroom was cleaned out of Dyleski's belongings, David Curiel moved from the couch into Dyleski's former room.

The "to do" list he found on Jan. 29, 2006, was allegedly part of a group of handwritten notes that he believed were jammed, and previously undetected by authorities, in the upper section of a dresser drawer.

The accompanying notes contained in-depth identity information about a neighbor named John Halpin.

Halpin testified Wednesday that he recognized his account numbers, date of birth, passwords and personal financial information on the notes, which he examined copies of in court.

Halpin said he discovered unauthorized purchases of special lighting equipment charged to his credit cards prior to Vitale's murder.

Another neighbor, Karen Schneider, testified that she accidentally hit the Dyleski family's dog, Jazz, two weeks before Vitale's murder and upset the family when she refused to pay the pet's medical bills. Jazz was euthanized.

Schneider said she too discovered fraudulent credit card purchases. After investigating the matter, she learned that Dyleski's home address was always the "ship to" location, but the "bill to" address was listed as either hers or Halpin's home, and in at least one case, the Vitale-Horowitz home.

A boy who tipped authorities off to the credit-card scheme, Robin Croen, 17, testified that he and Dyleski had cooked up a plan weeks before Vitale's murder to steal credit cards to purchase marijuana-cultivating equipment in order to grow their own drugs.

"I did the research," Croen said. "[Dyleski] said that he had a way to find people's credit cards."

Croen's father retained an attorney when he discovered his son's involvement in the scheme, and the District Attorney's office granted the boy immunity for his testimony and cooperation.

Strange story

Criminalists have described evidence at the crime scene and injuries to Vitale that indicate her violent struggle with her attacker the morning of Oct. 15. 2005, leading to 30 lacerations to her head, two broken fingers, and numerous contusions.

Several witnesses testified that Dyleski had scratches and "gaping wounds" on his face the day of Vitale's murder. He allegedly said he received them from an errant bush during a nature walk, but that he still feared being implicated in Vitale's murder.

"He said he was afraid of his DNA being on her or hers being on him, because she grabbed him at some point," Croen said Dyleski told him. "I asked him how or why that could have happened. I didn't get an answer."

Croen said he still considered Dyleski a close friend, but that he had not spoken to him since his arrest on October 19.

Dyleski sat at the defense table with a public defender and did not appear to acknowledge or look at Croen on the stand, even when Croen was asked to identify him.

Dyleski appeared engrossed Wednesday with words on a yellow legal pad, in which he filled some three pages with short lines of text, presumably the verse or poetry he reportedly enjoys writing. Detectives have described finding Goth-inspired poetry and lyrics in his room, along with symbolic imagery similar to the mark found on Vitale's back.

Michael Sikkema, who lived on the Curiel property with his wife and two children, said he noticed a marked change in Dyleski's behavior in the three weeks prior to Vitale's death. The "vibrant," "chatty" boy became withdrawn and isolated, he said.

Members of the household testified that Dyleski was concerned about DNA evidence leading police to suspect his involvement in the murder.

He allegedly explained that he was grabbed hard on the arm during his walk that day by a woman with brown hair and glasses like Vitale. The woman, he allegedly told witnesses, was driving down the road when she saw Dyleski, stopped the car, reached across the passenger seat and out the window to clench his arm.

Sikkema said he confronted Dyleski about the strange story.

"He told me it was a hallucination and he had a history of hallucinations and had undergone some kind of mental treatment at some point," Sikkema said.

Sikkema testified that he was concerned that Dyleski was using drugs.

"He said words to the effect that he didn't need to use drugs," Sikkema said, "because of the way his mind already worked."