2nd Ex-Officer Found Guilty in Contract Murder Case

Robert Anthony Von Villas on Thursday became the second of two former Los Angeles police detectives to be convicted of first-degree murder for killing a Northridge businessman in exchange for $20,000 from the victim’s ex-wife.

Von Villas, 44, of Simi Valley, was convicted by a Van Nuys Superior Court jury in the 1983 contract killing of former debt collector Thomas Weed, 52.

The eight-woman, four-man panel deliberated 4 1/2 days before finding Von Villas guilty of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and the special circumstance allegation of killing for financial gain.

Von Villas shook his head almost imperceptibly, then sat quietly as court clerk Glenn Covey read the verdict.

Von Villas’ partner in the crime, former Los Angeles Police Officer Richard Herman Ford, 48, of Northridge, was convicted Oct. 12 by a separate jury of the same charges.

Both men face the death penalty, or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Superior Court Judge Darlene Schempp scheduled the penalty phase of Von Villas’ trial for Nov. 28. The penalty phase for Ford is set to begin Monday.

The two detectives were assigned to the Devonshire Division in the northwest San Fernando Valley at the time of the crime and their subsequent arrests on July 7, 1983.

Buried in Desert

Weed, whose body has never been found, disappeared from his Northridge apartment Feb. 23, 1983. Prosecutors said the two detectives murdered him and buried the body somewhere in the Southern California desert. Weed’s car was later found in a parking lot at Los Angeles International Airport.

Janie E. Ogilvie, 45, of Canoga Park, the key prosecution witness, testified that she paid the two officers $20,000 to kill Weed, with whom she had a short, tumultuous marriage. Ogilvie said she wanted Weed killed because she believed he was stealing funds from, and trying to gain control of, an allergy testing laboratory that the couple owned in Northridge.

Ogilvie testified that she complained about Weed to a friend, who told Ogilvie that Von Villas would kill Weed for money. Soon after, in January, 1983, Von Villas and Ford went to Ogilvie’s home, wearing wigs and makeup, and offered to make Weed “disappear,” she said.

“ ‘He’ll vanish. There’s a lot of desert between here and Las Vegas,’ ” Ogilvie quoted Von Villas as saying.

Von Villas’ attorneys, Jack R. Stone and Donald Feinberg, contended that there was no evidence Weed is dead and implied that Ogilvie’s own attorney did the killing.

The lawyers attacked Ogilvie’s credibility, calling her a “liar who could charm your socks off.” They also cited medical records from UCLA and jail doctors that Ogilvie is a schizophrenic. The defense further contended that Ogilvie lied in order to secure a lighter sentence for herself.

Ogilvie, who originally faced first-degree murder charges, was allowed to plead guilty to the lesser offense of second-degree murder because she cooperated with prosecutors.

No Comment

The defense attorneys and Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert P. O’Neill declined to comment on Thursday’s verdict and Schempp admonished jurors not to discuss the case until after the penalty phase.

Los Angeles police spokesman Cmdr. William Booth praised the verdict, saying, “We devoted a good deal of resources and energy in investigating his activities and prosecuting him. And that means our time and effort wasn’t wasted.”

The former police officers, who resigned after their arrests, were ordered tried before separate juries because of their differing defenses. The prosecution presented most of its case, however, before both juries at the same time.