Identity of Woman in Slaying of Girl Believed Uncovered

Investigators believe they know the name of the woman who may have aided in the kidnaping and shooting of two teen-age girls last week that left one of them dead, Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates said Wednesday.

A photograph of the woman was found in the belongings of Roland Norman Comtois, 57, who was shot and wounded Tuesday as he attempted to flee from police, Gates said. He would not release the woman’s name.

“We feel we will pick her up soon,” he said.

Critical Condition

Comtois, who was booked for investigation of murder in the case, was in critical condition after surgery at County-USC Medical Center, Officer Fabian Lizarraga said.

Wendy Masuhara, 14, and a 13-year-old friend were abducted near midnight Friday as they walked through their Chatsworth neighborhood. A woman approached them and said she had trouble with the engine of her motor home, the 13-year-old told police.

Lured inside, the girls were kidnaped, then shot about an hour later and left for dead in an abandoned car in a remote canyon. The older girl died, but the 13-year-old, whose name has been withheld for her protection, survived wounds to her hand and neck.

Police said she identified Comtois from a photo and that he also resembled a composite drawing of the killer.

Comtois was shot when two officers went to a neighborhood near Dodger Stadium, known as Elysian Valley, to investigate a report that a man and a motor home there matched descriptions that had been circulated.

Police said Comtois bolted when officers arrived, scaled a barbed-wire-topped wall and was fleeing along the concrete bank of the Los Angeles River when one of the officers shot him.

Authorities said Comtois appeared to have been putting items from the motor home into a pickup truck when he spotted the officers and fled.

The pickup was registered to Comtois’ 29-year-old son, Raymond. The younger Comtois, who lives in Van Nuys, said his father lived in the motor home but had borrowed his pickup Tuesday.

The son said his father had a girlfriend. Raymond Comtois said he saw his father regularly but did not know much about his personal life and did not know the girlfriend’s name.