SAN DIEGO -- A transient charged with the January 1998 murder of Stephanie Crowe was angry and talking to himself about killing a female friend when he was in custody six years ago, a former cellmate testified Wednesday.

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David Lee testified that Richard Tuite was standing over his bunk when he woke up in a medical ward cell of the Vista Jail on March 13, 1998.

Lee said Tuite immediately walked away but was looking back at him and "staring the whole time."

The witness testified that other inmates wanted him to do something to Tuite, but he declined.

Every few hours, at least six times a day, Tuite would lunge forward with his hand, as if to point, Lee testified.

"He said, 'Tracy, you whore. I'm going to kill you,'" the witness testified. "He was angry. You couldn't miss it."

Lee said Tuite stopped the outbursts and calmed down after the two were transferred to the downtown jail a few days later.

Tuite, 34, is charged with killing Crowe the night of Jan. 20, 1998.

Prosecutors said the defendant had an "obsession" to find someone named "Tracy" and stalked and harassed other girls who looked like her.

Tuite was seen in the area of the Crowe residence off Valley Center Road the night of the murder, knocking on doors, looking for "Tracy," according to court testimony.

Tracy Nelson, the real-life "Tracy," testified Tuesday that she asked Tuite if he was the perpetrator during a phone call after the murder -- then the line went dead.

Escondido police initially thought the girl's murder was "an inside job" because Stephanie's father, Stephen, told them the laundry room door was locked, said Special Assistant Attorney General David Druliner.

The victim's 14-year-old brother, Michael, and his friends Joshua Treadway and Aaron Houser were arrested and charged with murder. But the charges were dismissed when Stephanie's blood was found on a filthy red sweat shirt Tuite was wearing the night the girl was killed.

Testing on Tuite's white undershirt revealed smears of the victim's blood near the hem line, Druliner said.