‘Prime Suspect’ in Disappearance of 2 Families : Judge Won’t Cut Briton’s Sentence

A judge denied a defense request Monday to cut in half the two-year, nine-month prison sentence for immigration violations given a British subject who police say has been implicated in the disappearance of two San Fernando Valley families.

U. S. District Judge Alicemarie H. Stotler said Harvey Rader, 45, formerly of Granada Hills, has “been less than candid” about why he lied on his passport application.

Rader was deported in December, 1986. He was indicted in April on charges of illegally returning to the United States. Prosecutors dropped the charge when Rader pleaded guilty to making false statements on an application for an American passport.

Rader contends he returned to the United States because his wife was in financial straits and his 4-year-old son was ill with pneumonia. He said he wanted a passport so he could remain with them.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Gary S. Lincenberg said he doubted Rader’s story, and argued against the sentence reduction and the validity of defense attorney Tom Kontos’ contention that Rader has become a “changed man” in federal prison.

“Mr. Rader is a very smart and cunning person,” Lincenberg told Stotler. “I don’t think he would have ever sought a passport unless he intended to use it.”

In a brief statement before he was sentenced Sept. 28, Rader told Stotler that the immigration charge was the result of “malicious persecution” by police for his suspected role in the 1981 disappearance of Peter and Joan Davis of Granada Hills; Sol Salomon; his wife, Elaine; her daughter, Michalle Hochman, 15; and the couple’s son, Mitchell, 9, all of Northridge. They all disappeared within seven months of each other in 1982. No bodies were ever found.

Rader and a cousin, Ashley Paulle, were arrested in 1982 and questioned about the two families because Rader serviced their cars at his garage in Reseda and was the last person to see the Salomons alive.

Rader was later released because a Los Angeles Municipal Court judge ruled that Paulle’s statement to authorities--the basis of Rader’s arrest--was inadmissible as evidence.

Police have said that although Radar has never been charged, he is still “a prime suspect” in the disappearances.

Detectives have speculated that the Davises were slain in connection with the theft of more than $100,000 in artwork from their home.

Rader was deported after authorities learned he had concealed a record of 17 theft and burglary convictions in Great Britain from U. S. authorities when he applied in 1981 for residency.

Kontos said Rader had led a crime-free life in the United States, but was tainted by the repeated “inflammatory statements” of police about his alleged involvement in the disappearances of the Davises and the Salomons.

In an unrelated civil trial, Rader admitted staging a phony burglary for a Sherman Oaks man, who collected $180,000 in insurance payments for supposedly stolen artwork. Rader was given immunity in exchange for his testimony.