Suspect in 1984 Slaying Is Killed in El Salvador

A murder charge against a Salvadoran accused of killing a friend with a machete in Northridge in 1984 was dismissed Monday after prosecutors learned that the suspect was killed in similar fashion in El Salvador.

San Fernando Superior Court Commissioner Charles L. Peven dismissed the charge at the request of Deputy Dist. Atty. Kenneth A. Loveman, who received word from Salvadoran officials last week that the defendant, Romulo Gonzalez, 22, was killed there on Jan. 31, 1986.

Gonzalez apparently was killed by acquaintances of the victim in the 1984 slaying, Jose Reyes, 24, also of El Salvador, Loveman said. Both men were illegal aliens in the United States, according to police reports.

According to Salvadoran officials, Gonzalez died outside a bar from wounds caused by a “steel blade,” but the weapon was not further identified, Loveman said. Little more was known about that incident, he said.

Although Gonzalez and Reyes were friends, they got into a “playful knife fight” on the night of April 14, 1984, on the 19000 block of Parthenia Street, Loveman said.

When the fight became serious, Gonzalez stood over Reyes with a machete and slashed and chopped 45 times across his face and body, according to a police report. Reyes’ left arm was severed at the elbow, and he died at the scene, the report said.

A warrant was issued for Gonzalez’ arrest, but he was never found, and authorities speculated that he had fled the country, the prosecutor said.