Had Been Deported : Briton Tied to ’82 Mystery Is Granted Bail

Over the objections of prosecutors, a federal magistrate Tuesday set bail for a British subject held on an immigration charge and long under investigation in the suspected killings of six San Fernando Valley residents who disappeared five years ago.

Magistrate James J. Penne set $200,000 bail for Harvey Rader, 45, rejecting arguments by federal prosecutors that Rader is likely to flee before his May 4 court date or to threaten witnesses against him in the murder investigation.

Peter and Joan Davis of Granada Hills and four members of the Sal Salomon family of Northridge vanished in 1982. Los Angeles Police Department investigators believe they were killed, but no bodies have been found.

Rader was arrested Thursday in Granada Hills on charges that he illegally returned to the United States only six weeks after he was deported to Britain by U.S. authorities.

Rader married a Granada Hills woman and applied for permanent U.S. resident status in 1980. He was deported for failing to disclose on the application that he had been convicted of 17 crimes in the United Kingdom, mainly car thefts and burglaries, the immigration service said.

Calling Rader “a strong danger to the community,” Assistant U.S. Atty. Bonnie Klapper asked that he be held without bail.

‘Generous, Trustworthy’

However, four friends described the stocky, gray-haired Rader to the magistrate as generous and trustworthy, testifying they were willing to put up their homes and other assets to secure his bail.

“When I had a severe heart attack two years ago,” said Harvey Innerfeld, a fellow motorcyclist, “not only did he come to the hospital all the time, but I almost had another heart attack trying to keep him from buying a color television for my room. I’m on disability now, and he’s helped me out time after time. He has a heart of gold--he wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

John Moisan, a biomedical engineer who shares Rader’s interest in exotic automobiles, called him “a sterling, warmhearted individual. I think he’s actually been persecuted. If the man is guilty, take him to court. Otherwise, how long can you be an ex-suspect?”

In 1983, Rader was arrested with a cousin, Ashley Paulle, in connection with the presumed slayings of the Davises and Salomons. Both men were released after a Los Angeles municipal judge ruled that Paulle’s statement to authorities, which apparently implicated Rader, was inadmissible.

No charges have been brought since then against either man in connection with the disappearances. However, in an affidavit prosecutors submitted to the magistrate, Los Angeles Police Detective Larry Bird said there are “definite expectations” that murder charges will be filed against Rader eventually.

Bird also said that Rader has threatened witnesses in the case and probably will do so again.

Defense Raises Questions

“What witnesses will recant?” asked defense attorney Marilyn Butler. “Who are these mysterious people who won’t come forward? If there were any case here, they would long ago have arrested him.”

Klapper disagreed. “I could bring in volumes of evidence,” she said, but added that the lack of bodies hinders prosecution.

Rader owned a foreign car repair shop in Reseda patronized by the Davises and the Salomons.

Police have speculated that the disappearance of the Davises, who lived next door to Paulle, was linked to the theft of artwork from their home, including a painting valued at more than $100,000.

According to federal court records, Rader was involved in an art theft in 1980, helping a Sherman Oaks surgeon buy art objects stolen from the Beverly Hills mansion of an Arabian sheik and then staging the theft of the same objects from the surgeon for an insurance payment. A federal court jury ordered Rader, who was granted immunity from prosecution, to repay $25,000.