County Homicide Rate Declines Slightly in ’97

Despite being the safest large city in the nation, Simi Valley ranked second only to Oxnard in Ventura County in number of homicides committed in the past year.

In May, Simi Valley became the site of one of the largest multiple homicides in the county’s history when a despondent father killed his entire family, shooting his wife and three sons before turning the gun on himself.

“Those tragic events are a reminder that even in the safest places, we are not immune to violence,� Police Chief Randy Adams said.

Altogether, Simi Valley reported five homicides in 1997; Oxnard had six.

Oxnard’s total, down from 17 murders in the previous year, is in, itself, a measure of success for the city’s effort to douse gang violence and introduce community policing.

“Our aggressive approach to gangs, the team of officers working on the street, that probably had an impact on homicides,� said Sgt. Lee Wilcox, a detective in the Oxnard Police Department’s homicide squad. “And I think the whole approach of community policing is starting to pay off.�

Across the county, homicides dropped to 27 from 33 in 1996. Still, the crimes brought senseless acts of violence to all corners of the county, shaking many residents’ sense of security.

In late April, Monica Lynne Leech, a 39-year-old mother of two, was handcuffed and then shot execution-style during a takeover bank robbery in Thousand Oaks--ranked by the FBI as the second-safest city in the country with a population over 100,000.

“It just seemed so absolutely senseless,� said Cmdr. Kathy Kemp, who heads the Sheriff Department’s Thousand Oaks enforcement division. “We’re doing everything we can to find those responsible. Unfortunately, even if we find them and prosecute them, that won’t bring back Monica Leech.�

Less than a month later in Simi Valley, 44-year-old Ahmad Salman, distraught and deeply in debt, grabbed a hunting rifle and shot and killed his entire family as they tried to escape.

Killed in the hail of gunfire were Salman’s 38-year-old wife Nabela; their 5-year-old twins, Zain and Zaid; and their 3-year-old son, Yezen.

With the shooting death of 17-year-old Leonard Coppola in October in Simi Valley, the city’s total homicides rose to five.

According to police, Coppola was shot by an acquaintance late at night while Coppola was trying to unlock the man’s storage yard to borrow a trailer. Edward Nishida Drake, 50, apparently mistook Coppola for a burglar, police said. Drake is now awaiting trial on charges of involuntary manslaughter.

The five slayings in Simi Valley were the most the city has seen since 1991, when there were six homicides.

“It’s unfortunate that we live in a society that does not value human life like it once did,� Adams said. “At one time, people would not resort to this kind of violence for such things.�

Across the county, residents in Ventura were shaken when 16-year-old James “Jake� Bush was stabbed to death in June after surprising a burglar in his home.

It has been six months since Bush’s slaying, and his killer is still at large, said Ventura Det. George Morris.

“This is still being actively investigated,� Morris said. “We have a lot of information that goes in a lot of different directions.�

A month earlier, in Upper Ojai, 42-year-old Helen Giardina and her ailing father, 83-year-old Albert Alexander, were shot to death by a neighbor in the presence of Giardina’s 3-year-old son.

Miguel Hugo Garcia, 43, a neighbor of Alexander’s, was arrested the same day and later admitted to the crimes, telling investigators he thought he was killing demons.

A jury found Garcia not guilty by reason of insanity, and a judge ordered him to a state mental hospital.

Oxnard, which traditionally is where more than half the slayings in the county occur in any year, saw a drop in the number of gang-related slayings.

Of the 17 homicides in 1996, at least nine were gang-related. This year, there were only two such homicide cases.

Fewer slayings in Oxnard have given detectives a chance to go back and work on unsolved cases from past years, as well as spend more time on difficult cases.

In October, an Oxnard detective helped escort former resident George Evangelist Doctolero, 19, back from the Philippines to face murder charges in Ventura County. Doctolero is accused of participating in the January shooting death of 24-year-old Jose Basilan. Mario Labrica Desequera, 26, is also awaiting trial in the slaying.

“Everything just came together on that case,� Wilcox said. “We caught someone fairly quickly, found the murder weapon and successfully extradited Doctolero.�

Perhaps Oxnard’s strangest case involved the June death of 14-month-old Carlos Borunda, who coroner’s investigators said died after being struck on the head by another toddler while the two were playing.

Three deaths in the past year came at the hands of law enforcement officers.

In January, Larry Pankey, 36, was shot once in the chest by an Oxnard police SWAT sniper during a standoff after a domestic disturbance call. Although his family contends that the shooting was not necessary, a district attorney’s investigation ruled that the officer who fired on Pankey was justified.

About two weeks after Pankey’s shooting, an off-duty Ventura County sheriff’s deputy in Port Hueneme shot 26-year-old Jack Dale Sexton. Deputy Steven Lengyel had rushed to the aid of his elderly neighbor and confronted Sexton in the woman’s living room. Sexton was shot once in the back in the encounter.

A district attorney’s investigation did not clear Lengyel, because he failed to speak with investigators about the incident. But neither did the investigation find any evidence of criminal wrongdoing, noting that Sexton was clearly drunk, combative and had committed a series of crimes leading up to his shooting.

The third officer-involved shooting occurred in June in Ventura, when a mentally ill man was shot by a police officer after wrestling with another officer and grabbing for his weapon. William Ramos, 29, was shot in the chest and stomach during the struggle.

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Ventura County Homicides in 1997

1) Jan. 3--Richard Macias, 19, of Santa Paula. Macias was shot in the back outside his former girlfriend’s house. Sheriff’s investigators suspect the woman’s new boyfriend, Jaime Aries, 22, of Fillmore. Police believe Aries shot Macias and another man, took their car and later set fire to it.

2) Jan. 13--Larry L. Pankey, 36, of Oxnard. Pankey was shot once in the chest by an Oxnard SWAT officer during a standoff. A district attorney’s investigation ruled the shooting justifiable.

3) Jan. 19--Jose Basilan, 24, of Oxnard. Basilan was shot in the stomach during an argument outside John’s Rendezvous Room in Oxnard. Soon after the shooting, detectives arrested Mario Labrica Desequera, 26. Then in October, George Evangelista Doctolero, 19, was returned from the Philippines under a new extradition treaty. Both are awaiting trial on murder charges.

4) Jan. 26--Jack Dale Sexton, 26, of Oxnard. Sexton was shot in the back by an off-duty sheriff’s deputy in Port Hueneme. Sexton, drunk and belligerent, was shot after he was confronted by the deputy and another man in the home of the deputy’s elderly neighbor. A district attorney’s investigation cleared the deputy of any criminal wrongdoing but said there were too many questions unanswered to rule the killing justified.

5) Feb. 18--Marsha A. Lane, 43, of Ventura. Lane was found strangled on the steps of Lincoln Elementary School in Ventura. Police investigators said they have a prime suspect who as yet has not been arrested.

6) April 14--Noe Guzman Romero, 18, of Oxnard. Romero was shot once in the chest after a late-night argument with a neighbor. Oxnard police investigators suspect Tony Martinez Nava, 24, in the slaying and believe he has fled to Mexico.

7) April 28--Monica Lynne Leech, 39, of Camarillo. Leech, a bank teller and mother of two, was shot once in the head during a bank robbery in Thousand Oaks. Ventura County sheriff’s detectives and FBI agents are handling the investigation. Although there was an intensive manhunt for the two men involved in the robbery and a large reward was posted, no arrests have been made.

8 and 9) May 22--Helen D. Giardina, 42, and her father, Albert “Jim� Alexander, 83, of Upper Ojai. Both were shot numerous times by a neighbor, who told authorities he thought he was killing demons when he shot the pair. The man, Michael Hugo Garcia, 43, was found not guilty by reason of insanity and ordered to a state mental hospital until he is deemed sane. If that occurs, another hearing would be scheduled to determine his fate.

10, 11, 12 and 13) May 27--Nabela Salman, 38, and her three sons--5-year-old twins Zaid and Zain, and Yezen, 3--all of Simi Valley. Ahmad Salman, 44, depressed and in debt, shot his sons and wife with a hunting rifle and then killed himself.

14) June 5--Carlos Borunda, 14 months, of Oxnard. Blunt head injuries. Coroner investigators determined that the boy died after being hit by another toddler while playing. No one was prosecuted.

15) June 14--William Ramos, 29, of Ventura. Ramos was shot in the chest and stomach by Ventura Police Officer Chris Davis. A district attorney investigation indicated that the shooting “appeared to be justified,� but fell short of clearing the officer because Davis did not speak to D.A. investigators about the incident. Ventura Police Department Internal Affairs investigators with whom Davis spoke cleared the officer and he returned to duty.

16) June 24--James “Jake� Bush, 16, of Ventura. Bush was stabbed to death in the family home after surprising a burglar in the middle of the day. Ventura police detectives have no suspects.

17) July 11--Hector Rivera Reyes, 19, of Oxnard. Rivera, who was deaf, was shot while walking with a friend in what police called a gang-related drive-by shooting. No one has been arrested.

18) Aug. 13--Mark Robert McGuire, 31, of Somis. McGuire was struck in the chest by a shotgun blast at a ranch home that he and a girlfriend rented. Although authorities have identified two suspects, no one has been charged.

19) Aug. 14--Victor Manuel Avina, 17, of Santa Paula. Avina was shot once in the back of the head while he and a friend were riding bicycles. Authorities believe the shooting is gang-related, but no arrests have been made.

20) Aug. 23--Marsha Ann Rockvam, 45, of Ventura. Rockvam was strangled in a hotel in Ventura. Ventura police detectives arrested her boyfriend, Tony Ray Welch, 43, who was later charged with murder.

21) Sept. 13--Nicholas Dowey, 21, of Ventura. Dowey was beaten to death at a party in Meiners Oaks. Dowey was struck several times with a bat, and then, witnesses said, he was struck three more times in the head by a Ventura County sheriff’s deputy, who tried to restrain him. He died a day later, never regaining consciousness. Although sheriff’s investigators have interviewed more than 100 people, no arrests have been made.

22) Sept. 22--Hugo Meza, 17, of Oxnard. Meza was shot in the head during a birthday party in Camarillo. Deputies say the deejay, David Munoz, 33, had fired several rounds during a melee and one of the shots struck Meza. Munoz was charged with manslaughter and is awaiting trial.

23) Oct. 10--Leonard Coppola, 17, of Simi Valley. Coppola was shot in the head and neck after being mistaken for a burglar. Edward Nishida Drake, 50, was arrested for the shooting and has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter charges.

24) Oct. 29--Gabriela Contreras Maldonado, 15, of Oxnard. Contreras was shot in the head and stomach, and her body was dumped on the roadside near the Santa Clara River. She was seven months pregnant. Although he has not been charged with the slaying, authorities have identified her boyfriend, Edgar Alberto Fuentes, 22, as the prime suspect. Fuentes is currently in the Ventura County Jail on unrelated weapons charges.

25) Nov. 2--Cesar Garcia, 23, of Port Hueneme. Garcia was shot in the chest during a party at his home. Port Hueneme police investigators are looking for Ramiro Pardo, 22, in connection with the shooting.

26) Nov. 15--Felipe Angel Flores, 26, of Oxnard. Flores was stabbed to death at a gas station after an argument with two men. No arrests have been made.

27) Dec. 1--Fredrico Orozco, 27, of Saticoy. Orozco was shot in the chest by a friend to whom he owed money. Nabor Moreno, 42, turned himself in and is awaiting trial on murder charges.

Sources: Ventura County coroner’s office, Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, Ventura Police Department, Oxnard Police Department, Simi Valley Police Department, Port Hueneme Police Department and Santa Paula Police Department.

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County Homicides

Here is a listing of Ventura County homicides by year and city as of Dec. 24:

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Year Total 1997 27 1996 33 1995 26 1994 28 1993 45 1992 32 1991 48 1990 20 1989 23

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Homicides by city in 1997:

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City Number Camarillo 1 Thousand Oaks 1 Port Hueneme 2 Santa Paula 2 Ventura 4 Simi Valley 5 Oxnard 6

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Fillmore, Moorpark and Ojai did not record any homicides 1997.

Source: Ventura County coroner, Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, Ventura Police Department, Simi Valley Police Department and Santa Paula Police Department