9 Said to Have Figured in Plots to Kill Slain Detective

Nine people were involved in conspiracies to kill a Los Angeles police detective before he was murdered outside a church in Canoga Park, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Five men have been charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the Oct. 31, 1985, death of Thomas C. Williams, 42, a detective in the North Hollywood police division.

Another man was also charged but has been granted immunity in exchange for his testimony. Three other men who were asked to play roles in killing Williams also have been promised immunity in exchange for testimony, prosecutors said.

Daniel S. Jenkins, 32, and Ruben A. (Tony) Moss, 26, are being tried in Van Nuys Superior Court on charges of murder and conspiracy to murder Williams, who was hit eight times by automatic-weapon fire outside Faith Baptist Church in Canoga Park as he picked up his 6-year-old son from school.

Prosecutors said Jenkins was the ringleader in the conspiracy and have identified him as the man who shot Williams. Revenge was the motive, they said. Williams testified against Jenkins at a robbery trial several hours before the slaying.

Others charged in the slaying are Duane Moody, 30, Voltaire Williams, 25, and Reecy Cooper, 33. They will be tried later.

Shopping for Killers

The four men promised immunity had been approached in the months before the killing, Deputy Dist. Atty. William E. Gravlin said Tuesday. At the time, Gravlin said, Jenkins was shopping for killers.

A suspect in an unrelated armed-robbery case, Jeffrey Bryant, told authorities that Jenkins asked him to kill Williams two months before the murder, Gravlin said.

Alexander Xavier Hunter testified in pretrial proceedings that he was offered $10,000 to kill Williams on Oct. 25, 1985, but could not go through with it after he saw the detective with his son.

David Bentley, who was arrested in the Williams murder, asked another man, Tyrone Hicks, to kill Williams a few weeks before the killing, Gravlin said. Hicks asked how much he would be paid and was told he would have to work that out with the person who sought the killing, Gravlin said.

Gravlin said Hicks later received a call from Moss offering him $250 to drive the car from which the bullets were to be fired.

On Oct. 29, two days before the killing, Hicks was in a car with Moss and Cooper when Williams’ car passed them going south on Glade Avenue instead of north, as they had expected, Gravlin said. Cooper suggested that they drive alongside Williams and “blast him” Gravlin said. Moss refused and said they had to operate according to the plan, Gravlin said.

Jenkins then decided to do the job himself, prosecutors said.

In opening statements to jurors Tuesday, Michael V. White, attorney for Moss, said the witnesses lied to authorities about Moss in order to gain their own freedom.

A parent who picked up her child from school before the murder told authorities she saw a black man at the scene. She identified the man as Moss during a pretrial proceeding three months after the incident.

But, White said, she failed to pick Moss from a photo lineup only 42 days after the murder.

Jenkins’ attorney is scheduled to make his opening remarks today. Moss and Jenkins are being tried together but will be judged by separate juries.