Missing Couple Found Slain; 3 Suspects Seized

The bodies of two missing college students from Thousand Oaks were discovered Sunday in a grassy field off Mulholland Drive, Los Angeles police said.

Three suspects were arrested Sunday for investigation in the murders and a fourth was being sought, West Bureau Cmdr. Larry Binkley said.

According to Binkley, Brian Harris, 20, a student at California State University, Northridge, and Michelle Ann Boyd, 18, a UCLA coed, were both shot in the head at close range by members of a Firestone-Florence area gang, who stole Harris’ car to commit other crimes and wanted to leave no witnesses.

Binkley said the two students--who had been dating for several months after meeting in a Thousand Oaks area record store where they worked--were abducted late last Monday night as they left Miss Boyd’s Westwood apartment.

They were taken to a semi-remote area just west of the San Diego Freeway and shot about 11:30 p.m. the same night, Binkley said.

The three suspects in custody were identified by police as Deandre Brown, 21; Damon Redmond, 19, and Stanley Davis, 20.

Brown and Redmond were arrested during a search early Sunday. Davis turned himself in at the Firestone Sheriff’s Station later in the morning. Police did not disclose the name of the fourth suspect, who is still at large.

Binkley said the four suspects were gang members “out looking for a crime to commit.” He said they stopped the young couple to commandeer Harris’ 1981 Honda Civic for transportation.

Wanted Auto

“They just wanted the car,” Binkley said. “The motive that we’ve obtained so far is that the suspects were out looking for a crime to commit, they were having some problems with their engine, they wanted a more reliable piece of transportation, so they took the kids in that car and executed them.”

At least two of the suspects were arrested for a similar crime in June, 1984, after a UCLA student identified them as the ones who abducted him and stole his car, police said. They were not prosecuted, however, because the student’s identification was considered inadequate, Binkley said.

Homicide detectives allege that the suspects decided to shoot Harris and Miss Boyd, because they wanted to leave no witnesses this time.

Binkley said it is still not known whether the men used Harris’ car in any other crimes. The Honda was found Tuesday morning behind an auto parts store on East Florence Avenue. Although the vehicle had been soaked with gasoline and set afire, police were able to find fingerprints inside it, along with Harris’ wallet, identification, credit cards and keys.

Launched Search

Investigators immediately launched a massive search, sought public help in the case and received numerous calls from concerned citizens.

Meanwhile, the prints were airmailed to Sacramento for processing through the state’s automated latent print system. On Saturday, at least one of the suspects was identified by the fingerprints, Binkley said.

A judge signed a search warrant Saturday for three homes in the Florence-Firestone area, an unincorporated region of South Los Angeles. A task force of homicide detectives and other officers moved in at 5:30 a.m. Sunday, Binkley said.

During the operation, officers found information leading to two more houses. They searched those locations immediately, without obtaining warrants, because they hoped they might find Harris and Miss Boyd, Binkley said. Instead, they found and arrested Brown and Redmond.

One of the suspects led detectives to the field in the Santa Monica Mountains, where the bodies were found, Binkley said.

Autopsies were scheduled today.