Survivor of Rodeo Drive Killings Describes Ordeal

A gunman who held five people hostage during a botched robbery attempt at a Beverly Hills jewelry store stabbed a security guard who mouthed off and later shot a saleswoman when police failed to meet his demands, a survivor of the siege testified today.

Carol Lambert, one of two hostages to survive the ordeal, was the first witness to testify against Steven Livaditis at his preliminary hearing on three murder charges and 12 other felony counts stemming from a holdup at the Van Cleef & Arpels store June 23.

A saleswoman at the store, Lambert tearfully described the daylong siege and identified Livaditis as the gunman. She also testified that Livaditis may have had help from an accomplice outside the store during the robbery attempt.

“There were calls from someone named ‘Jim’ outside,” Lambert said. “He was advising where the police were. We thought that was strange. He said he was moving around to different phones so he couldn’t be traced.”

Lawyer Discounts Idea

Lambert also said, however, that Livaditis did not seem to know who “Jim” was. Livaditis’ attorney, Michael Denby, discounted the idea that Livaditis may have had help during the robbery. “As far as I know, there was no accomplice,” Denby said outside the Beverly Hills courtroom where the preliminary hearing is being held.

On the stand, Lambert said Livaditis, 22, became angry with security guard William Smith, 54, after Smith told him: “You think you are so big because you have a gun. If you didn’t have a gun you wouldn’t be so big.

“He got angry at Bill for saying it,” Lambert said. “He called him a useless old man. He came over and stabbed him in the back. I could hear him dying.”

Livaditis seemed relaxed after killing Smith, Lambert testified.

Sales Manager Killed

Hours after Smith was stabbed, saleswoman Ann Heilperin, 40, was shot to death inside the store. Sales manager Hugh Skinner, 63, was shot and killed by a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department marksman who mistook him for the gunman as the gunman, surrounded by hostages, tried to escape from the store after nightfall.

After stabbing Smith, Livaditis ordered Ms. Heilperin to move across the room and lie alongside the body of Smith, Lambert testified.

“He made Annie scoot across the floor and he made her lay down behind Bill. . . , “ she said, breaking down into sobs that resulted in a five-minute recess.

She said Livaditis was talking on the telephone when he suddenly set the phone down, and there was a shot.

‘He Was Very Calm’

“He said the gun misfired,” she said. “He was very calm after killing Annie.”

She said Livaditis was fed up because demands had not been met by police. “He only got up-tight when talking to ‘Bob’ on the telephone,” she said, identifying “Bob” as the police negotiator who spoke to Livaditis.

Livaditis, wearing a light blue jail shirt and pants, and no longer swathed in bandages that had covered his burns at earlier court appearances, sat expressionless as Lambert recounted the siege.

Lambert, 41, and shipping clerk Robert Taylor, 60, were called to the stand during the first day of a preliminary hearing that will determine whether Livaditis will stand trial. Livaditis pleaded innocent July 8 to three murder charges, four robbery counts, five counts of false imprisonment and three of kidnaping.