Fugitive in Villa Park Slaying Seen in L.A.

A lawyer who fled California shortly after becoming a suspect in the 1997 slaying of a Villa Park woman was sighted twice last month in West Los Angeles, authorities said Monday.

Hugh “Randy” McDonald, 52, took a 1988 BMW 733i to a repair shop in the city and was seen the same day at the federal building on Wilshire Boulevard in Westwood, said Orange County sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino.

McDonald, an Orange County attorney, was using the alias Kevin O’Conner, Amormino said. A tipster told investigators the suspect’s car was silver-gray, with the license 2KVR518, Amormino said.

Investigators received the tip Monday after asking for the public’s help last week.

Prosecutors have a warrant for McDonald’s arrest in connection with the May 30, 1997, killing of Janie Pang, 33. A gunman chased Pang around her house before shooting her as she hid in a bedroom closet, sheriff’s officials said.

Authorities said a police sketch of the gunman closely resembled McDonald, who worked for a law firm doing work for a business owned by Pang’s husband.

Within days of the shooting, McDonald fled to San Francisco, leaving his wife and three children in Corona del Mar, sheriff’s officials said. Investigators believe he faked suicide days later by leaving clothing and other belongings on the Golden Gate Bridge.

Detectives grew suspicious when McDonald’s body was never recovered. Then they received a tip that he was living in Utah. Since then, sheriff’s investigators said, McDonald has eluded them by moving and changing his name and appearance.