4 Seized in Slaying of Producer Radin

Four people have been arrested in Florida, Maryland and the Los Angeles area in connection with the slaying of theatrical producer Roy Alexander Radin in May, 1983, Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials announced Monday.

Two of those arrested are also suspected of killing a prostitute, June Mincher, 29, in 1984 outside her Van Nuys apartment.

Authorities described both slayings as murders for hire and said the suspects may have been involved in other killings throughout the United States.

Fifth Suspect Sought

Arrested during the weekend were William Molony Mentzer, 39, of Canoga Park, Alex Lamota Marti, 27, of Sherman Oaks, Karen Jacobs Greenberger, 35, of Okeechobee, Fla., and Robert Ulmer Lowe, 42, of Rockville, Md. A fifth suspect, Robert Leroy Deremer, 37, of Cumberland, Md., was being sought.

All five allegedly were involved in Radin’s death. Lowe and Mentzer also were being held in connection with the fatal shooting of Mincher.

Investigators said Monday that Mincher’s death and that of Radin apparently were not related, but would not say what led them to the four suspects arrested over the weekend.

Mentzer and Marti were arraigned Monday in Los Angeles Municipal Court and held without bail. Others arrested in the case were held awaiting extradition to California.

Authorities, meanwhile, seized explosives and more than 24 firearms, including a silencer-equipped pistol, from a Van Nuys storage locker allegedly rented by Deremer. None of the weapons are believed to have been used in the killings.

Capt. Dick Walls, a sheriff’s spokesman, described Greenberger as a former “West Coast cocaine dealer” who met Radin, 33, in 1983 and introduced him to producer Robert Evans. Radin, who lived in Long Island, N.Y., and produced vaudeville revival shows, had come to California to discuss financial backing for the movie “Cotton Club,” in which Evans held a controlling interest, authorities said.

Sheriff’s Homicide Capt. Robert Grimm said “there was some disagreement about the way the profits (from the movie) should be shared” and that Greenberger arranged a meeting between Radin and others.

Radin was last seen May 13, 1983, stepping into a limousine with Greenberger in front of the Plaza Suite Hotel in Hollywood. Radin, according to investigators, had told associates that he was planning to dine with business associates in Beverly Hills.

He never arrived. His decomposed body was found nearly a month later in a stream in rural northern Los Angeles County. He had been shot once behind the right ear.

Grimm stressed that Evans is not a suspect in Radin’s death.