Man Held in Illinois in 1981 Sylmar Killing

Chicago police have arrested a suspect in a 1981 Sylmar killing who eluded Los Angeles police for more than a decade until they fooled a relative into revealing the man’s location, authorities said Thursday.

Los Angeles Police Department detectives were preparing to fly to Chicago to bring Armando Canizales back to Los Angeles to face charges of murder, attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.

Canizales was drinking at a Sylmar bar in 1981 when he got into an argument with three other customers--David and Rene Ledesma and their friend Jose Robles, Detective Lillian Johnson said. The fight spilled outside into the parking lot, where Canizales drew a gun and fired, killing David Ledesma and injuring the other two people, Johnson said.

Shortly after the shooting, police arrested Canizales on suspicion of murder, but were forced to release him for lack of evidence. Additional witnesses came forward to tie Canizales to the shooting, but the suspect had fled to Mexico, Johnson said.

Unable to locate Canizales in his native country, frustrated Foothill Division detectives filed the case in a pile of other unresolved murder investigations.

Johnson reopened the inquiry this year with a phone call to Canizales’ sister-in-law in early July, posing as the cousin of a daughter Canizales did not know he had.

Telling the sister-in-law that this daughter had bone marrow cancer, Johnson asked to be put into contact with Canizales so she could ask him to serve as a marrow donor.

The sister-in-law said that Canizales was living in Illinois, but she would not give out his phone number. Instead, she promised to call Canizales herself and relay the message, according to Johnson.

The next day, the sister-in-law told Johnson that Canizales did not want to serve as a donor and was living happily near Chicago with a new wife and children and wanted to forget his California past, Johnson said.

That disclosure allowed Johnson to obtain a warrant for the sister-in-law’s phone records, which she used to locate Canizales.

He was arrested Wednesday by Chicago police without incident.

“He deserved to be arrested,” said Johnson. “He told his sister-in-law that he didn’t care if he had a sick daughter. Someone like that doesn’t deserve to have a happy life.”

Times correspondent Nicholas Riccardi contributed to this story.