Drifter Pleads Guilty to 3 Jewelry Store Murders

Steven Livaditis, the drifter who last year staged a bloody 13 1/2-hour siege of an exclusive Beverly Hills jewelry store, pleaded guilty Tuesday to three counts of first-degree murder.

Livaditis, 23, admitted guilt in the deaths of two hostages killed inside the Van Cleef & Arpels store last June 23 and in the death of store manager Hugh Skinner, mistakenly slain by a sheriff’s marksman.

In an unusual move, Livaditis admitted four of five special circumstances, including killing two of his victims during the course of a burglary-robbery, making him eligible for the death penalty, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Dona Bracke, the prosecutor.

District attorney’s spokesman Al Albergate said this is the first time since the death penalty laws were established a decade ago that a Los Angeles County defendant has entered a plea that exposed him to a possible death penalty sentence.

Livaditis, who also pleaded guilty to five counts of robbery, one of burglary and three of kidnaping, reversed his earlier not-guilty plea during the second week of jury selection for his trial in Santa Monica Superior Court.

2 Sentencing Options

Once impaneled, the jury will hear his penalty trial and recommend one of two options: the gas chamber or life in prison without possibility of parole.

Livaditis’ attorney, Deputy Public Defender Michael H. Demby, noted that his client has admitted his responsibility for the crimes from the outset and had wanted to plead guilty last summer.

The lawyer dissuaded him, however, because “at the time he had originally wanted to plead, the case had not been investigated . . . or his mental condition, and I had not had the opportunity to discuss thoroughly with him whether he understood the consequences of pleading,” Demby said. “That has been accomplished.”

Expressing the hope that Livaditis will avoid the gas chamber, Demby said: “He has shown responsibility and he has shown remorse, and this is not the proper case for the death penalty.”

Bracke disagreed, saying, “Very little has changed as a result of these pleas.”

The prosecutor said the plea did not come as a shock but added, “I always feel a little surprised when it happens after we’ve already started jury selection.”

Bracke said that for the penalty trial, expected to begin next month, she plans to call the two survivors of the ordeal, saleswoman Carol Lambert and shipping clerk Robert Taylor.

Robbery Foiled

During a three-hour preliminary hearing last August, they described how Livaditis took five employees of the Rodeo Drive store hostage after his robbery attempt was foiled by the quick arrival of police.

The witnesses said both security guard William Richard Smith, 54, and saleswoman Ann Heilperin, 40, were killed after they upset the gunman--Smith by taunting him and Heilperin by screaming. Several hours after shooting them, Livaditis tried to flee the store with the three surviving hostages and was captured by police.

During the escape attempt, Skinner, 60, was killed by a sheriff’s sharpshooter who had been erroneously informed that the gunman was the only white man in the group. Lambert and Livaditis were injured when police lobbed grenades to divert the gunman.

Immediately after the preliminary hearing, a prosecutor in the district attorney’s special investigations division disclosed that the marksman, Deputy George Johnson, might have received the correct instructions if his police radio had not been turned off in order to conserve batteries. No charges were filed against Johnson.