Witness Gets Threats From Jail, D.A. Says

A drug addict charged with shooting to death restaurateur Alberto Sarno has made several telephoned death threats from County Jail to a key witness against him, prosecutors said Friday.

Ex-convict Ralph Mora, 33, threatened to kill Krysteen Ackerman, 37, and her two children if she testified against him, Deputy Dist. Atty. Sterling E. Norris said. Unbeknown to Mora, the four or five telephoned threats he made to Ackerman after his arrest Oct. 29 were secretly recorded by authorities, Norris said.

“Some of the threats were explicit--that she had better fear for her safety and the safety of her children,” Norris said. “Others were more implicit.”

Hearing Postponed

Norris disclosed the alleged threats in an attempt to thwart a defense request to delay Mora’s preliminary hearing. Norris told Municipal Judge Alban Niles that he fears for the safety of Ackerman--even though she is now in police protective custody--and wants her to testify as soon as possible.

However, Judge Niles granted the defense request and postponed the hearing until Dec. 22 to give Mora’s attorneys further time to prepare their case.

Mora is charged with shooting to death Sarno, 59, outside his gated Los Feliz home during an Oct. 20 attempted holdup to support his heroin addiction. The slaying occurred after Sarno had closed his restaurant, Sarno’s Caffe Dell’Opera on North Vermont Avenue, for the evening.

Ackerman, a waitress at the restaurant who reportedly had been involved romantically with Mora’s brother, has allegedly made statements to authorities implicating the defendant in the slaying.