California IN BRIEF : MONTEREY : Veteran Prosecutor Kills Himself

A 10-year veteran Monterey County prosecutor, who was involved in a murder investigation that may have led to a witness’s death, has apparently committed suicide, police said. Collier Vale, 39, was found dead in his apartment from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, officers said. Vale, recently promoted to assistant district attorney, was the subject of media reports stemming from a year-old mix-up that exposed a murder witness to retaliation. Sonjii Johnson, 23, of Seaside, was shot to death in the driveway of her parents’ home in August, 1989. Bradley Hardison, 25, is accused of slaying Johnson to silence her so she could not testify against him in another case. Before her death, Vale and a police officer inadvertently called another woman named “Sonya” Johnson, who spread the word in the Seaside community that Sonjii Johnson was the “snitch.”