Suspect in 3 Arpels Heist Deaths Faces Trial

A gunman accused of holding five people hostage inside a Rodeo Drive jewelry store, killing two of them and causing the death of a third, was ordered Monday to stand trial.

The order came after a preliminary hearing in Beverly Hills Municipal Court in which a woman held hostage inside the Van Cleef & Arpels store described how the gunman stabbed a security guard who belittled him and later shot a saleswoman, claiming it was a misfire.

Steven Livaditis, a 22-year-old Brooklyn native, was ordered to stand trial on 15 felony counts, including three murder and kidnaping charges, after testimony by several witnesses, including the two survivors of the ordeal.

Livaditis pleaded not guilty to the charges July 8. If convicted of the murder charges and other felonies, Livaditis could face the death penalty.

Municipal Judge Charles D. Boags ordered Livaditis to appear Friday in Santa Monica Superior Court for arraignment. He is being held without bail.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt he’ll be convicted of something,” Deputy Public Defender Michael Demby said of his client outside the court.

Tearful Description

During the hearing to determine if there was enough evidence to hold Livaditis for trial, saleswoman Carol Lambert tearfully described the slayings of two co-workers during the botched June 23 robbery and 13 1/2-hour siege.

“He came over and stabbed him in the back. I could hear him dying,” Lambert said of the death of security guard William Smith, 54.

Lambert said Livaditis became angry with Smith, after the security guard 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.”

After stabbing Smith, Livaditis took fabric from a showcase and covered Smith, she said.

“All of us had blood splattered on us,” Lambert said. “There was shock--terror and shock.”

Livaditis, however, seemed calm after the slaying, she said.

Asked by Deputy Dist. Atty. Dona Bracke how she knew Smith was dead, Lambert said, “He didn’t move. I could see the (knife) hilt poking the material up.”

Also slain inside the store was saleswoman Ann Heilperin, 40. Sales manager Hugh Skinner, 63, was shot and killed by a Los Angeles County sheriff’s marksman, who mistook him for the gunman during an escape attempt.

The marksman, Deputy George Johnson, testified Monday that he was never informed there was a white male being held hostage.

Spotter Shouted

Johnson, the final witness, said he fired his rifle after a spotter shouted that he had identified a shiny object, a gun. Describing Skinner’s death, Johnson said he fired at the man in his sights, hitting him in the chest.

“I shot the individual. I aimed at center mass, the middle of the chest,” Johnson said, adding later, “I was never told there was a white, male hostage.”

Lambert, 41, and shipping clerk Robert Taylor, 60, the surviving hostages, were called to the stand during the preliminary hearing.

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.

After stabbing Smith, Livaditis ordered Heilperin to move across the room and alongside Smith’s body, 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.

When she returned, Lambert detailed the death of Heilperin.

Put Down Phone

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

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

Livaditis became angry later in the day, when his demands for a television news crew and meals were not met.

“It seemed like every time he spoke to this man (the officer), he became agitated because they weren’t doing anything,” the witness said.

“He only got up-tight when talking to Bob (the police negotiator) on the telephone,” she said.