Rodeo Drive Suspect’s Past: Sought in Vegas Jewel Heist : Police Bullet Apparently Killed 1 of 3

A 22-year-old Las Vegas man arrested in the bloody 13 1/2-hour siege of a Beverly Hills jewelry store in which three hostages died is a convicted burglar who was also being sought by the FBI for allegedly robbing a Las Vegas jewelry store at gunpoint in February, authorities said today.

Steven Livaditis, who police said killed at least two hostages during Monday’s standoff, was in custody at the Los Angeles County--USC Medical Center jail ward, where he was booked on investigation of multiple murder and robbery. Formal charges were expected to be filed against him Wednesday.

The Las Vegas jewelry store robbery that police believe Livaditis carried out occurred Feb. 2 at a Zales jewelers in a large shopping center two miles from the Las Vegas Strip.

The suspect entered the store shortly after it opened and tied up the two employees on duty. Armed with a large-caliber revolver, he took about $100,000 in jewelry after telling one employee he would “blow his head off” if he did not cooperate, according to statements made by the victim. While that employee said he was “roughed up,” there were no serious injuries.

Identified in Photo

Police said the victims identified Livaditis as the robber after being shown a photograph of him. The FBI later obtained a federal warrant for his arrest as a fugitive.

Livaditis’ older brother, George Livaditis, 28, also of Las Vegas, said in a telephone interview today that he had been troubled by his brother’s inability to hold a steady job and his willingness to turn to crime.

However, the brother said, he was shocked by reports that Livaditis had executed two hostages inside the Beverly Hills store.

“I never thought he had something like this in him,” he said. “Never. He had me fooled completely. . . . I never even knew he knew how to use” a gun, Livaditis said.

The elder Livaditis, an importer, said he, Steven and two other children were raised in Brooklyn by their mother. He said he had not seen his brother for the past year and had not been close to him since Steven was 11 or 12 years old and their mother sent Steven to a Greek-American church school in Upstate New York.

The siege at the exclusive Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry store ended tragically late Monday night when the gunman tried to slip out a south entrance of the store, using three hostages as a shield. Store manager Hugh Skinner, 64, was shot to death as the four, apparently tied together and covered by a drape, tried to make their way to a parking lot where some of the employees kept their cars.

Apparently Shot by Police

Sheriff Sherman Block told the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors today that the fatal shot was apparently fired by a police officer. The officer fired, Block said, because the gunman allegedly had pointed his weapon at one of the hostages. Block said the suspect’s gun was fully loaded when it was recovered outside the store. A knife was also recovered.

Authorities found the bodies of two other hostages inside the store. The two, lying face down with their hands bound, had been killed execution-style, police said.

As Levaditis and his captives left the store shortly after 11:30 p.m., members of the sheriff’s special-weapons team lobbed “flash-bang” grenades in their direction in an attempt to stop them.

“During this time,” said Deputy Dave Tellez, “one hostage fell to the ground and a special weapons team member in the long-rifle position fired one round from his rifle. At the time, we do not know if that round struck a hostage.”

Authorities said ballistics tests may be required to determine who fired the fatal shot. Beverly Hills police were on the scene as well as sheriff’s deputies.

A source in the district attorney’s office said early reports indicated that the store manager “apparently may have been hit by a sheriff’s sniper, but it’s unclear.”

Saleswoman Suffered Burns

The two other hostages who were with Livaditis when the siege ended were taken to local hospitals with moderate injuries.

Saleswoman Carol Lambert, 42, of Culver City, who was burned on her face and chest by the “flash-bang” grenades, was in stable condition Tuesday in the burn unit at Brotman Memorial Hospital. After complaining of chest pains, Robert Taylor, 60, the store’s shipping clerk, was being treated in the coronary observation unit of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Taylor’s son on Monday said his father was a diabetic.

Livaditis, burned on his hands and face by the flash grenades, was being treated at the jail ward.

Throughout the long siege, Livaditis claimed that he had killed at least one hostage inside the store and possibly a second.

Television station KTLA reported that it had received a phone call at mid-afternoon from a man identifying himself as the gunman. Giving his name as “John,” the caller claimed that he had killed a man named Smith, the store’s security guard, for talking back to him.

“Mr. Smith’s body is right here, lying a few feet away,” the caller said. Although two of the hostages who were later killed verified his account in telephone calls to news agencies, police insisted throughout the day that they believed all the hostages were safe.

Bodies Found on First Floor

The bodies of William Richard Smith, 54, a security guard, and saleswoman Ann C. Heilperin, 40, were found lying next to one another on the first floor of the jewelry store. Smith had been stabbed to death and Heilperin fatally shot, police said.

Authorities said today that throughout the long siege they were operating on the assumption that Livaditis was bluffing. He reportedly made conflicting statements to them in telephone conversations. “The information I was getting yesterday was they believed he was bluffing,” Beverly Hills Police Lt. Bill Hunt said this morning. Hunt, however, indicated late Monday that police “would have gone in . . . had they known there were injured inside.”

The Van Cleef & Arpels store, like its neighbors on exclusive Rodeo Drive, maintained tight security. The store had a security gate at the front door.

One of the estimated 12 to 15 employees who escaped from the store as the drama unfolded Monday indicated that the well-dressed gunman would have been admitted to the store only after ringing a buzzer at the front entrance.

Once inside, he apparently ordered employees to get on the floor. He later told news agencies by telephone that he intended to rob the store because he had earlier been sold some bogus jewelry.

As many as 80 police officers and sheriff’s deputies, many armed with automatic weapons, converged on the store after a silent alarm was tripped and one employee managed to dial the 911 emergency number.

Caught by Surprise

Officers said the gunman was apparently caught by surprise when police appeared so quickly.

Livaditis joined the Nevada Army Reserve in 1983, serving in a combat support hospital, but was terminated from the reserves after a year because of poor attendance at weekend meetings, according to an Army official who spoke on condition that he not be identified.

The source described Livaditis as a thin, quiet, brown-haired, 6-foot-tall man with “significant financial problems.”

“He came in once to see me about a late paycheck. He was so upset he was about to burst into tears, and it was less than $100,” the source said.

George Livaditis said that during the last two years, his brother “got involved with the wrong kinds of kids.”

Livaditis said his brother worked “off and on” in Las Vegas. “He’d work as a waiter in a hotel and it wouldn’t last. He’d jump around.”

The older brother said he tried to counsel Steven “countless times, but to no avail. He’d say, ‘There’s no big deal,’ he’d change. You’d see him working, everything would be kosher. Then after a few months, you’d see him hustling.”

Police and probation officials said Livaditis’ first major brush with the law occurred in September, 1984, when was arrested by Las Vegas police on suspicion of stealing $22,000 worth of equipment from a computer store and attempting to re-sell it.

He was sentenced to five years probation last June, but failed to regularly check in with probation officials and was placed on “absconder” status.

Times staff writers Edward J. Boyer, Scott Harris, David Holley, Carol McGraw and Ted Vollmer contributed to this story.