Woman to Be Tried in Stepfather’s Death

Investigators believe an elderly North Hollywood tap-dance teacher was murdered by his stepdaughter because she wanted to inherit an estate worth $500,000, a detective testified Thursday in San Fernando Municipal Court.

At the end of a preliminary hearing, the stepdaughter and her boyfriend were ordered to stand trial for murder.

Mary Anne Hayden, 46, and Robert Louis Holmes, 26, who live together in North Hollywood, are accused of killing Edward Gay, 72.

Gay, who was still an active instructor specializing in tap dance, was stabbed to death in his garage in the 12700 block of Tiara Street the night of Sept. 22, Police Detective Philip Sowers said.

Hayden and Holmes called the police the next morning and said they had found the body. They were arrested two days later.

Sowers quoted Holmes as saying Hayden had admitted stabbing her stepfather. Holmes also was charged because someone who helps plan a crime is culpable along with the one who commits the act, the prosecutor, Deputy Dist. Atty. Harold Lynn, said in an interview.

Possible Change in Will

The detective testified that Holmes told investigators that Hayden was upset because her stepfather was considering changing his will. The change reportedly would have meant that she would not receive the bulk of her inheritance until she was 60 or 65 years old.

The detective also quoted Holmes as saying he gave Hayden his buck knife Sept. 22 and that she said she planned to kill her stepfather. She left their apartment and returned later, telling Holmes that “the deed had been accomplished,” Sowers testified.

Holmes told police that Hayden removed items from the home “to make it look like a robbery,” Sowers said. Holmes also told the police that Hayden had once tried to poison her stepfather by putting medicine in his soft drink, Sowers said.

Holmes told investigators that he was to receive 50% of the inheritance once he and Hayden married, Sowers said.

Lynn, the prosecutor, said tht Gay’s estate is valued at about $500,000 and that Hayden is the sole heir. Hayden will not collect the inheritance if she convicted of murder in the first or second degree, Lynn said. She could collect if she is acquitted or convicted of manslaughter, he said.