Transient Charged With Murder, Sex Crimes in Girls’ Abduction

A transient wounded by police was charged Thursday with murder and numerous unlawful sex acts in the abduction and shooting of two Chatsworth girls, and police identified his alleged woman accomplice.

Roland Norman Comtois, 57, remained in critical condition but was conscious Thursday in the jail ward at County-USC Medical Center, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Sterling Norris, who filed the seven charges alleging murder, attempted murder, kidnaping and several acts of sexual molestation. The murder charge, filed in the death of Wendy Masuhara, 14, includes special circumstances that would make Comtois eligible for the death penalty if convicted.

Comtois’ alleged accomplice was identified by Police Chief Daryl F. Gates on Thursday as Marsha Lynn Erickson, 33, a transient with a history of prostitution. There is a “distinct possibility” that police might seek a murder charge against her, Gates said. Erickson was “partially responsible for the kidnaping and potentially responsible for the murder,” he said.

Erickson, who is being sought on a warrant for kidnaping, was identified through interviews with Comtois’ associates and by Masuhara’s companion, a 13-year-old girl who survived despite being shot in the head by Comtois, Gates said.

The motive for the abduction appears to be sexual, Norris said. The girls’ kidnapers pulled them into a small motor home late Friday on a quiet street near the girls’ homes, police said.

The sex charges filed against Comtois pertain to the surviving girl, Norris said. Masuhara apparently was not sexually molested, and prosecutors believe that she might have been killed after someone or something surprised Comtois and Erickson, he said.

Police do not know Erickson’s whereabouts, Gates said. He described her as a drug user who has “a large criminal history,” including prostitution, burglary and narcotics violations. She was a “friend” of Comtois and associated with him for perhaps “a couple of years,” Gates said.

Comtois, an ex-convict who also has a long criminal record, was shot early Tuesday while running from police officers.