Mysterious Encounter Led to Hermosa Beach Slaying

Homicide investigators say that when they found John Ortega a week ago, he was sleeping soundly inside a stolen Triumph TR-7, parked along the abandoned railroad right of way that runs the length of Hermosa Beach.

Ortega’s shoes were splattered with blood, as were the 11 1/2-inch Buck knife and the pair of jeans that investigators found stuffed in a grocery bag in the car’s trunk, said sheriff’s Detective Richard Kennerly.

That was sufficient evidence for the district attorney’s office to charge Ortega with the murder of Hermosa Beach florist Steve Gallardo, whose body was found the evening of Oct. 20 in his Pier Avenue apartment, punctured by 13 stab wounds.

What detectives said they may never know is how Gallardo, 41, an established merchant who had succeeded in business ventures around the world, crossed paths with Ortega, whom police described as a transient and convicted car thief.

Not-Guilty Plea

Ortega, who pleaded not guilty Tuesday in South Bay Municipal Court and faces a preliminary told investigators that he became angry when Gallardo made a pass at him. A sheriff’s report filed in court says Ortega gave this account:

Ortega was hanging out near the foot of the Hermosa Beach Pier on Oct. 18 when Gallardo approached him and struck up a conversation. Gallardo offered marijuana, and the two smoked while sitting in Gallardo’s Mercedes-Benz and later back at Gallardo’s apartment on Pier Avenue. After the two finished a second joint, Gallardo said that he was gay and asked Ortega if he was. Ortega said no. Gallardo approached him and rubbed his thigh and chest. He said he became angry when Gallardo persisted.

“Ortega stated that he always carries a large knife in his pocket and that he didn’t know what happened next,� the report says. “Ortega stated that he has a bad temper when he uses drugs. He said he blacked out. He said he didn’t know whether he had beaten the victim first or stabbed him, but that he obviously had killed him. He went on to say he hates (homosexuals).�

Gallardo’s brother and sister said in separate interviews that they do not believe that Steve Gallardo was a homosexual or that he propositioned Ortega. They said Ortega probably killed their brother in order to steal his 1968 Mercedes-Benz convertible.

Possible Death Penalty

If convicted of the murder, Ortega could be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The penalty could be increased to death if prosecutors prove that Ortega killed Gallardo to rob him, one of 19 “special circumstances� that can trigger the death penalty in California.

Investigators said they may not be able to prove that Ortega killed Gallardo to get the Mercedes, but they said the silver sports car was crucial to solving the case.

After finding Gallardo’s body at his apartment Oct. 20, detectives noticed that the Mercedes was missing. A few hours later, a Hermosa Beach police cruiser spotted the car driving into the parking lot of a club near the pier.

Police said they arrested the driver, 25-year-old Matthew Toro, who told them that he had merely borrowed the car from Ortega and knew nothing about a murder. Toro has pleaded not guilty to charges of grand theft and receiving stolen property and is being held on $500,000 bail.

Police said Toro is a convicted burglar from the state of Washington who violated his parole by coming to California, but there is no evidence that he knew about the murder.

Found Sleeping in Car

Toro directed investigators to the park-like railroad right of way, where Ortega was found sleeping inside the white Triumph.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Martin Oghigian said the knife used to kill Gallardo and Ortega’s pants, both smeared with blood, were found in the trunk of the car, stuffed inside a bag from a local grocery store. A bag from the same store, still containing groceries, was found on Gallardo’s kitchen counter.

Investigators said Ortega told them that he was a model who had come to California a week earlier to “make it big.� He said he ended up in Hermosa Beach, instead of Hollywood, after getting lost on the freeway. He said he carried a knife “because California is dangerous,� Detective Kennerly said.

Ortega slept in the TR-7, stolen from Colorado and parked in a lot along the railroad right of way, Kennerly said.

School Official ‘Shocked’

The director of a Colorado Springs modeling school where Ortega was taking classes said in a telephone interview this week that he was “shocked� by the murder charge. “I just can’t believe that of John. That’s not the John I know,� said the man, who asked to remain anonymous.

Ortega was scheduled this month to complete the 10-week modeling course at the John Casablanca Modeling and Career Center, and he was a serious student who showed potential, the school official said.

But Kennerly said Ortega spent two years in prison for auto theft. He was still on probation in Colorado and not authorized to leave the state and come to Hermosa Beach.

Gallardo had been in the South Bay since last November, when he opened the Hermosa Beach Florist shop on Pier Avenue. He had lived on a boat in King Harbor for most of the year, but 10 days before the killing moved to the apartment a block from his shop.

The flower shop was only the most recent in a series of business successes for Gallardo, according to his brother, Gus.

Steve Gallardo grew up in the City of Commerce and attended Catholic schools before moving on to California State University, Long Beach, where he majored in political science.

Went Into Business

When Gallardo tired of school, his father gave him $10,000 that had been saved for his education, and Gallardo moved to Hawaii. There, Gus Gallardo said, his younger brother bought and sold pepper, later wholesaling large quantities of the spice in the Micronesian islands.

When he had parlayed his $10,000 investment into $28,000, Steve Gallardo decided to move on to Mexico.

In the late 1960s, Gallardo found his way to Puerto Vallarta, at that time a relatively unspoiled fishing town. He built a restaurant on a hillside above the ocean on the south end of town, and “Cafe Jose� soon became a tourist hot spot.

Gallardo sold Cafe Jose about 7 years later, his brother said, and lived off the profits for several years, traveling around Mexico.

‘Real Adventurer’

He returned to the United States when his father died early in this decade, moving to a 10-acre ranch in north San Diego County that he dubbed Rancho Gallardo. He raised exotic flowers called protea that he had first come to love in Hawaii, his brother said.

“He was single and he was a real adventurer,� said Gus Gallardo. “He liked to live life to the max.�

His older brother said the Gallardo family had hoped that Steve was ready to settle down closer to home, with the new flower shop and apartment in Hermosa Beach. “It was a changing time in his life,� Gus said. “He was older, and he wanted to be closer to Mom and to the family.�