Man Convicted in Slaying of Westminster Store Owner During Holdup

A jury deliberated less than a day before finding Hans Swaving guilty of capital murder Friday in the killing of a Westminster jeweler during a 1984 robbery.

Swaving, 33, an ex-convict, now faces a penalty trial, scheduled to begin Thursday, during which the jury will decide whether he should be executed or spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Juan E. Suarez, 38, proprietor of the family-run Jewelry Showcase at Beach and Westminster boulevards, died of a single gunshot wound in the chest after the Oct. 19, 1984, robbery.

His wife, Olga, and 7-year-old daughter, Jennifer, were being held at gunpoint 10 feet from Suarez when the shot was fired.

Swaving, armed with a submachine gun, allegedly was accompanied by Tory Edwin Navey, who is accused of firing the fatal shot from a .38-caliber revolver. Navey, 24, is awaiting trial Feb. 17 on identical charges.

Jurors convicted Swaving of first-degree murder and found that the killing was committed in the course of both robbery and burglary. He also was convicted of robbery, burglary and two counts of attempted murder.

“We are satisfied with the verdict,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard F. Toohey, who declined further comment. Superior Court Judge James R. Franks presided at the trial.

The attempted murder convictions stemmed from a high-speed police chase as Swaving and Navey fled in a pickup truck along the Riverside Freeway.

According to police, the pair drove at high speeds along the shoulder of the highway, firing bursts from a submachine gun at two pursuing Anaheim officers as they raced past heavy evening rush-hour traffic.

The officers began their pursuit when they heard a description of the getaway car over their radio.

The chase lasted several hours. Swaving and Navey left the freeway on Gypsum Canyon Road and abandoned the pickup, along with money and jewelry from the robbery, at an excavation site.

They fled on foot into the hills, triggering a manhunt that involved dozens of police on the ground and three helicopters.

Swaving and Navey eventually were located by a helicopter equipped with infrared cameras that detected heat from their bodies. The two surrendered.

The pistol used to kill Suarez was stolen in a pawnshop robbery in Utah two days earlier, investigators said. Authorities believe the pair traveled to Las Vegas, then Orange County, where they looked over three jewelry stores before deciding on the Suarez shop.

The two entered the store dressed in three-piece suits, with Swaving carrying a briefcase that contained a KG-99 semiautomatic weapon.

They perused merchandise, then announced the robbery. Olga and Jennifer Suarez were herded behind a partition and held at gunpoint. Shortly afterwards, they heard the single gunshot.

Swaving is a native of the Netherlands. Court records show that he was convicted in federal court of armed robbery in 1977 in Seattle and was ordered deported. How he returned to this country is not known.

Navey, who did not testify during Swaving’s trial, has been convicted of burglary in Ohio, according to court records.

Defense attorney Larry Bruce could not be reached for comment. Testimony in the trial began Jan. 12.