Local News in Brief : Officer’s Firing Urged

A Los Angeles Police Department Board of Rights has recommended that the department fire Officer William Leasure, who was relieved of his duties without pay last year and is awaiting trial on murder charges, officials said Thursday.

The disciplinary tribunal Wednesday found Leasure guilty of “improperly and knowingly possessing a stolen vehicle” and recommended that he be dismissed, Cmdr. William Booth said.

Police Chief Daryl F. Gates has five days to decide whether to accept the board’s recommendation. A previous Board of Rights made a similar recommendation on April 21, 1987, but Leasure, 41, successfully appealed it on the grounds that he did not have an attorney at the time.

Leasure, an 18-year veteran who was relieved of his duties without pay Feb. 13, 1987, has been in jail since his arrest in Oakland in May, 1986.

Three stolen cars were found at Leasure’s Northridge home. His wife, Betsy Mogul, a high-ranking deputy city attorney, was charged with perjury for allegedly providing false information to the Department of Motor Vehicles to avoid taxes.

Leasure also is a suspect in a yacht theft ring, two contract murders and the murder of a Los Angeles beautician whose husband has been charged with receiving one of the stolen yachts.