Wallet of Slain Boy Found in Suspect’s House

A wallet belonging to one of two boys found slain on a La Crescenta schoolyard was found in the home of the 15-year-old boy accused in the killings, the suspect’s attorney said Tuesday.

Attorney Charles T. Mathews confirmed that police found the wallet of Blaine Talmo Jr., 14, in the home of Michael Demirdjian. But he declined to elaborate on how Demirdjian obtained the wallet.

Mathews previously acknowledged Demirdjian witnessed the killings, but said they were committed by an adult male acquaintance and that his client fled in fear for his life afterward.

Blaine and Christopher McCulloch, 13, were found dead on the playground of Valley View Elementary School on July 23. Prosecutors have charged Demirdjian as an adult with robbery and murder. A preliminary hearing, scheduled for Tuesday, was postponed to Sept. 20.

Mathews, who said he has obtained Glendale police reports of the investigation as part of the pretrial discovery process, said police also have a statement from someone who reportedly witnessed a fistfight between Demirdjian and the two victims days before their deaths.

Mathews, however, said the witness mistook a different boy for Demirdjian.

Mathews said detectives are still awaiting the results of blood and toxicology tests. He also said a police detective testified in a deposition that he was willing to give Demirdjian a lie-detector test, as Mathews has requested.

Glendale police, who have imposed a news blackout on the investigation, declined to comment on Mathews’ remarks Tuesday.

Mathews’ comments came after Glendale Municipal Judge Barbara Lee Burke granted his request to reschedule the preliminary hearing so that he could finish examining police documents obtained last weekend and to give Glendale’s police crime lab time to complete its work.

Last week, Mathews said his client blamed an unidentified man who was with Demirdjian and the two victims at the playground.

“My client says they were choked out and then clubbed with a rock,” Mathews said in an Aug. 2 interview. He said the “perpetrator” also used a concrete bench to finish off at least one of the victims.

Demirdjian, Mathews said, was in a marijuana- and alcohol-induced stupor and was paralyzed by the brutality of the attack. The attorney said Demirdjian fled the playground “for fear the guy would do the same thing to him.”

Contrary to reports that Blaine and Christopher called a friend about midmorning of Sunday, July 23, Mathews said Demirdjian saw them die sometime between Saturday night and dawn Sunday.

Shortly after the slayings, police searched Demirdjian’s house and, according to Mathews, found a bloody shoe.

Although Glendale police said last month they were looking for additional suspects, Demirdjian is the only murder suspect in custody, and police have refused to discuss other recent arrests that may be a factor in the investigation.

Police arrested five people, including three juveniles, last week on suspicion of conspiracy to kidnap and rob. Police declined to discuss the reasons for the arrests, but a spokeswoman for the district attorney said the case grew out of the murder investigation but would not elaborate.

Police released all five two days later after prosecutors declined to file charges.

Another man, Adam Walker, 19, had been arrested on suspicion of murder three days after the bodies were found. But police dropped those allegations, and Walker was charged with an unrelated burglary.

Mathews, based on his discussions with law enforcement officials and police documents, confirmed the five were arrested because police believed they tried to kidnap Walker.

Walker is being held at the Men’s Central Jail in lieu of $60,000 bail while he awaits his arraignment Thursday. Walker has denied he was at the playground on the night of the boys’ deaths.