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Prosecutor: Venice Boardwalk Driver Who Killed Italian Honeymooner Was Targeting Drug Dealer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A prosecutor says a driver who killed an Italian honeymooner and struck 17 other pedestrians on the Venice Boardwalk was aiming for a drug dealer who took his money.

Deputy District Attorney Victor Avila said Thursday in opening statements that Nathan Campbell said he was going to run the man down when he didn't return with $35 worth of methamphetamine.

Campbell is charged with murder in the death Alice Gruppioni and with assaulting 17 others with a deadly weapon.

Avila says Campbell hopped a curb and sped around barriers onto the pedestrian walkway and began taking out people visiting the tourist destination in August 2013.

Defense lawyer James Cooper III says his client drove down the boardwalk in weaving pattern to avoid people. He asked jurors not to convict Campbell of murder.

(Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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