‘Substantial Evidence’ in Galanter Case Cited

Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates said Monday that “substantial evidence” linking suspect Mark Allen Olds to the stabbing attack on City Council candidate Ruth Galanter will be strong enough for a conviction even if Galanter is unable to identify him as her assailant.

Gates, speaking with reporters at City Hall, refused to divulge the nature of the evidence linking Olds, 27, to the brutal May 6 attack on the 46-year-old urban planner.

Another law enforcement source said, however, that police found Olds’ fingerprints in the house and are investigating the possibility that he may have left shoe prints.

No other suspects are being sought, Gates said. “We believe he is solely responsible.”

Earlier, he told City Council members, “We can assure you he (Olds) is indeed the person who committed the crime.”

Held Without Bail

Olds, a former gang member who lives in a rooming house across the street from Galanter’s Venice home, surrendered Saturday, the day after police launched a statewide search for him.

He is being held without bail on suspicion of attempted murder. The district attorney’s office is expected to file charges today, with arraignment set for this afternoon.

Olds’ attorney, James M. Epstein, said he had not seen any of the evidence against his client. “They have not shown me a thing or will tell me a thing,” the attorney said.

Gates, saying there is no evidence suggesting that the attack was in some way connected to Galanter’s challenge to City Council President Pat Russell, theorized that the suspect entered the home intending to commit burglary to support a drug habit.

“He was an active drug user, and drug users steal,” Gates told reporters. “Her home appeared to be easy pickings. Perhaps she appeared to be easy picking as a woman alone at home.”

Gates said detectives still have not determined whether property was missing from Galanter’s home or whether sexual assault was involved.

Dismissing statements by a priest and others vouching for Olds’ character, Gates said Olds’ “whole history would suggest” a criminal nature.

Epstein, although confirming that his client is a drug user, denied that he has a history of violence. In 1982 Olds was acquitted of murder after two witnesses recanted their statements, according to Police Detective Robert Thoreson.

Meanwhile, Lt. Ed Henderson of the Police Department’s major crimes unit, which is handling the investigation, said Galanter was interviewed in her hospital room at the UCLA Medical Center Monday afternoon but was not asked to identify photographs of the suspect.

Gates said at the news conference that Galanter’s “condition is still too fragile” for her to be shown a photo lineup.

Henderson would not say what questions were asked of the victim.

Hospital spokeswoman Karen Le Beau said Galanter was “continuing to recover,” with her condition still listed as fair. She underwent five hours of surgery last week to repair damage to her arteries.

Staff writer Eric Malnic contributed to this story.