Handcuffed Victim Pleaded for Life, Jury Told

The prosecution’s star witness against two men accused of the execution-style murders of three San Fernando Valley residents testified Tuesday that one victim was killed in an isolated area of Agoura after he pleaded for his life while handcuffed.

Accused killer Timothy Hoban, 30, “took the .41-caliber pistol out of the holster and fired,” Deborah J. Stalder told a Van Nuys Superior Court jury.

After killing Jon Cassanelli, 28, of North Hollywood, Stalder said, Hoban and Steven Zimmer told her that “they were going to take me to some other place to kill me.” But Stalder said she persuaded them to let her live by promising never to talk about the slaying.

2 1/2-Hour Testimony

Stalder testified for 2 1/2 hours at the trial of Zimmer, 36, a Van Nuys resident charged in three killings, including that of Cassanelli, whose naked body was found Jan. 15, 1984, near Kanan Dume Road in Agoura. The other victims were Virginia Rosenberg, 30, of North Hollywood, and Steve Migliore, 21, of Panorama City, who were killed two days later in Placerita Canyon near Newhall.

Hoban, of Sherman Oaks, will be tried separately on the three murder counts. Both men could receive the death penalty if convicted.

Stalder, 26, who said she was a cocaine dealer working for Hoban and Zimmer, was granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for her testimony.

She told the jury that Cassanelli, who was her boyfriend, was also a user and dealer of drugs supplied by Hoban and Zimmer. She said the two men decided to kill Cassanelli because he was unreliable.

Zimmer’s trial is scheduled to resume today.