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A man was held to answer Friday on murder charges for allegedly fatally shooting a man at an abandoned grow along State Route 299.

Christopher Diven was also held to a spread of other charges laid out during a preliminary hearing this week.

He’s accused of fatally shooting Vincent McKenney, a 36-year-old man who’d been missing for months before he was found dead.

“I frankly don’t have a doubt,” Diven killed McKenney, Judge Christopher Wilson said during the hearing.

Diven is accused of using a 20-gauge shotgun to fatally shoot McKenney. Deputy District Attorney Carolyn Schaffer argued Friday Diven first shot the victim in the back, followed by another to the head.

Meanwhile, Deputy Public Defender Ryan McClurg argued there wasn’t sufficient evidence the killing was willful and premeditated murder, and instead the charge should be manslaughter.

Judge Wilson said there remained a specter of a self-defense claim, but said the court would need more information on the topic.

After finding probable cause to proceed with a trial, Wilson set the next hearing on April 10 and said Diven will remain on a no-bail hold.

McClurg argued there was insufficient evidence identifying McKenney’s cause of death, along with a lack of DNA evidence and cell phone data tying Diven to the killing. He argued the case relied on witness testimony he cast doubt on.

Schaffer countered, pointing to birdshot consistent with the type of weapon lent to Diven found at the scene, a doctor’s opinion of the victim’s cause of death based on his scattered remains and Diven’s text messages sent to a friend on the night of the homicide seeking a ride — even without the witness testimony heard this week that substantially implicated Diven as killing McKenney.

During witness examination, the court heard from a HCSO investigator, a deputy and Jordan Schafer Burdisso, who was at the scene of the shooting and Diven’s romantic partner.

During cross examination, McClurg cast doubt on the trustworthiness of Burdisso’s testimony, pointing to the timeline of her relationship with Diven and drug use. McClurg pointed out she did not directly see Diven shoot McKenney, his body or any blood on Diven’s clothes, during questioning.

Earlier this week, Burdisso testified she texted Diven that night to come with protection to the former grow site, where she was with McKenney.

She testified Diven arrived at the property, briefly spoke to her while she sat in her car before disappearing into the darkness, and heard McKenney say “You’ve got to be kid-” followed by two gunshots.

She testified Diven got into her car, told her “he’s dead” before driving away together.

McClurg also pressed into a line of questioning on the feuding between the victim and defendant.

Burdisso said he was acting like a “loose cannon” after relapsing, like a different person. “It made me kinda nervous, yeah,” she said, when asked by McClurg if she was scared the night investigators believe McKenney was shot.

She testified he was repeatedly calling Diven a bitch that night.

Prosecutor Schaffer in turn noted Diven told Burdisso something like he’d already made up his mind, or felt McKenney’s death was coming, when attempting to console her for guilt over his death.

Wilson similarly held Diven to answer for all charges in another case heard at the same time, surrounding being a felon is possession of mace and bullets police allegedly found while investigating the murder. Video evidence shown during the hearing also captured Diven with a weapon, which he was barred from possessing.