SAN DIEGO — The painter accused of shooting KFMB-TV Channel 8 Sports Director Kyle Kraska pleaded not guilty Tuesday to premeditated attempted murder in what the prosecutor described as “an ambush.”
Mike Montana, 54, of El Cajon, made his first court appearance since the Feb. 10 shooting of Kraska, who was shot six times in his Mercedes-Benz outside his Scripps Ranch home.
Deputy District Attorney Rebecca Zipp said if Montana is convicted of all the charges and sentencing enhancements, he would face a prison term of 37 years and eight months. She asked bail be set at $1 million, but it was set at $750,000.
Montana’s attorney, Kevin Milmoe, asked for $500,000 bail from San Diego Superior Court Judge David Szumowski. Milmoe said Montana had no felony convictions.
Kraska, 48, is reported to be improving at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla where he has undergone surgery. His family from the East Coast flew out to be with him and he was in a medically induced coma for many days after the shooting, according to the KFMB news station.
Zipp said Kraska was shot six times in his car at 3 p.m. as he attempted to leave the driveway. She said Kraska had hired Montana to paint his house and there was “a financial dispute” between them.
One of Kraska’s neighbors told KFMB that Kraska hired Montana to paint the house, but was dissatisfied with his work and hired another painter to finish it. The neighbor said Kraska paid Montana for his work, but Montana later left “threatening notes” on his door.
Zipp told the judge the shooting was “planned in advance” and Kraska was shot several feet away from Montana. He was wounded in the torso, stomach, chest, and leg.
Additionally, Montana pleaded not guilty on an unrelated charge of making a criminal threat to a woman Nov. 6, 2014, but Zipp told reporters afterwards she could not say anything about it. Other former clients of Montana have told TV news stations that they also were dissatisfied with his work and he later became threatening in collecting money.
The charge of using a gun in a violent crime carries a 25-year penalty which could be added to a life sentence for attempted murder. A preliminary hearing was set for March 2. Montana remains in the central jail.
