2 Suspects in Detective’s Slaying Were at Scene Earlier, Court Told

A man who lives on the same street in Canoga Park where Los Angeles Police Detective Thomas C. Williams was fatally shot last Halloween testified in Los Angeles Municipal Court on Tuesday that six days before the ambush slaying, he saw two of the defendants, and a third man whose identity he could not be sure of, sitting in a parked vehicle near the crime scene.

Witness Don L. Jorgensen acknowledged under cross-examination that he did not tell police that he had observed defendants Rubin A. Moss, 24, and Duane Moody, 28, until after he saw their photos in a newspaper. His testimony came on the opening day of a preliminary hearing for Moss, Moody, Daniel S. Jenkins, 30, and Voltaire Williams, 23. The hearing will determine whether there is sufficient evidence for the four to stand trial.

Detective Williams was killed just hours after he testified in Jenkins’ robbery and assault trial.