Document Ties Suspect to Slaying of Detective

The man accused of masterminding the ambush slaying last week of a Los Angeles police detective in retaliation for his testimony in a criminal trial had asked two men to kill the officer but took action himself when the others backed out, a police document alleges.

Daniel Steven Jenkins, 30, drove one of the would-be assassins, Voltaire Williams, to a Canoga Park church child care center and pointed out Detective Thomas C. Williams, who was picking up his 6-year-old son, according to a police report given to reporters Thursday by Douglas L. Young, a defense attorney representing one of the suspects.

In a confession to police, Voltaire Williams said Jenkins had told him that the man was a security guard, not a police officer, the document states. For reasons that were not explained in the report, Williams, 22, said he did not go though with the planned killing.

An unnamed informant also is quoted in the police report as saying that Jenkins and Voltaire Williams had approached him and solicited the murder of Detective Williams, 42, who worked out of the North Hollywood Division. The informant told police that he, too, had backed out.

Jenkins’ accused conspirators are: Voltaire Williams, Duane Moody, 27, and Ruben A. (Tony) Moss, 24, all of Los Angeles. The four suspects have been charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder and special circumstance that could result in the death penalty if convicted.

In another development Thursday, police found a 1979 white and blue Oldsmobile believed to be the one used in the detective’s slaying, Lt. Ed Henderson said.

Police said the car, found near the Hollywood Bowl, had been reported stolen Oct. 23 in Van Nuys. Investigators would not disclose what, if any, evidence was found in the car.

An automatic pistol, believed to be the murder weapon, was recovered by police Tuesday.

Williams was gunned down in a hail of bullets Oct. 31, as he picked up his son in the 7600 block of Glade Avenue. The boy was not injured.

Hours earlier, the detective had testified against Jenkins in San Fernando Superior Court in a robbery case involving the October, 1984, holdup of theater manager George Carpenter. The day after the slaying, Jenkins, who had been free on $16,000 bail, was convicted and immediately jailed without bail pending sentencing Nov. 27.

When he arrived in court that morning, according to Deputy Public Defender Norman Koplof, who represented Jenkins in the robbery case, the defendant denied any involvement in the murder and was “surprised and shocked.”

The police report obtained Thursday also provides the first evidence linking Jenkins to the July 4 attempted murder of Carpenter, which has not been solved.

The unnamed informant told police that, a few days before Detective Williams’ slaying, Moody’s girlfriend had told him that an earlier attempt to kill a witness against Jenkins had failed, but that he should “watch the newspaper because something was going to happen to another guy.”

Police said the girlfriend’s reference was to the attack on Carpenter, who was shot four times as he sat in a bar. After recovering, Carpenter changed his name and moved out of state, but returned to testify against Jenkins.

Police and prosecutors refused to comment Thursday on the contents of the police report provided by Young, who is representing Moody. However, investigators have previously said that they believe Jenkins put out a $10,000 contract on the detective’s life in an effort to prevent his testimony in the robbery case. When those attempts failed, Jenkins allegedly killed the officer out of “vengeance,” Police Chief Daryl F. Gates said.