Jury Takes Little Time to Convict Eu Home Burglar

A 28-year-old “career criminal” was convicted Thursday of a series of residential break-ins, including the November, 1986, robbery of Secretary of State March Fong Eu in her Hancock Park home. Eu was severely beaten during the robbery.

Gregory Lee Moore sat quietly as the Los Angeles Superior Court jury, after deliberating only one day, found him guilty of 10 felonies stemming from six burglaries and robberies in Hancock Park and Beverly Hills dating back to last Oct. 20.

Eu, who suffered three broken ribs in the attack as well as facial cuts and an injury to the cartilage in her ear that required surgery, was not in court Thursday. But she issued a statement thanking the jury, law enforcement officers, witnesses and a police dog named Boss that helped track down the suspect at a Beverly Hills home.

“All too often the criminals get away while the victims suffer in fear,” Eu said. “I’m glad that’s not the case this time. His conviction doesn’t eliminate the painful memories of the past but it is certainly comforting to know that he is no longer free to prey on innocent victims.”

Jurors said they were not troubled by Eu’s inability to positively identify Moore as the man who robbed her, beat her with the blunt end of a hatchet and dragged her through the house by her hair. She testified that she never got a “good look” at him.

Jury members, who took two votes before reaching a verdict, said the decisive piece of evidence linking Moore to the attack on Eu was a blood-stained envelope bearing his fingerprint.

The envelope, addressed to “Dr. Eu,” was discovered a block away from Fremont Place, the exclusive enclave where Eu and her husband live. Eu had testified that the robber took one envelope containing four $100 bills and another with an unknown number of $2 bills.

Deputy Public Defender James Stuart Bisnow, who represented Moore, had questioned the authenticity of the fingerprint since it was not matched to the defendant until two days after his Nov. 22 arrest.

“We debated it, but as a whole we didn’t buy it,” jury foreman John G. Salazar said, referring to the fingerprint issue. “The defense had no defense.”

In addition, a bloody sneaker print matching the shoes Moore was wearing when he was arrested was found on Eu’s tile floor, Deputy Dist. Atty. Antonio Barreto Jr. said.

The verdict, which had been reached late Wednesday, was unsealed Thursday. Later in the day, the panel issued a second decision, confirming that Moore had committed three prior felonies, including a robbery for which he was convicted when he was 17.