‘85 Halloween Ambush : Prosecutors Say 3 Men Helped Plot Slaying

Three men conspired with Daniel Stephen Jenkins in the Halloween Day, 1985, ambush slaying of an off-duty Los Angeles police detective, prosecutors argued Monday.

Voltaire Alphonse Williams, 25; Reecy Clem Cooper, 34, and Dwayne Moody, 30, all of South-Central Los Angeles, are on trial for murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the death of Officer Thomas C. Williams.

Jenkins, 33, a North Hollywood limousine company owner, and Ruben Antonio Moss, 26, already have been convicted of murder and conspiracy to commit murder in Williams’ death.

Authorities say Williams was slain in retaliation for his testimony in a robbery trial.

The three are being tried by a jury in Van Nuys Superior Court. The trial in Judge Kathryne Ann Stoltz’s courtroom is expected to last about three months.

Williams, 42, died after being hit with a volley of automatic pistol fire as he picked up his 6-year-old son, Ryan, at a Canoga Park day-care center.

Jenkins has been sentenced to die in the gas chamber in the slaying and a jury has recommended that Moss be sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.

Prosecutors are seeking only life in prison without possibility of parole for Voltaire Williams, Cooper and Moody, however, because they are believed to have been less culpable for the killing, Assistant Dist. Atty. Curt Livesay said.

In opening statements, Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard L. Jenkins told the jury that Jenkins conspired with Moss, Williams, Cooper and Moody to have the detective killed to keep him from testifying against Jenkins in a robbery trial.

But the plans to kill the officer did not work out, and he testified, authorities said. Jenkins finally killed the detective himself in retaliation, authorities said.

Voltaire Williams is accused of meeting with Jenkins and another man on Oct. 24, 1985, at a Reseda skating rink to plan the killing.

Charles Earl Lloyd, one of Voltaire Williams’ two attorneys and the only one to make an opening statement, told jurors that his client backed out of the conspiracy and has no criminal or legal responsibility for the detective’s death.

The other two attorneys declined to make opening statements Monday.

Moody is accused of supplying the 9mm pistol used to kill the detective and of helping to hide the weapon after the killing. But Moody’s attorneys contended outside of court Monday that Moody took the action because he was afraid of Jenkins, not because he intended to kill the detective.

Cooper is accused of meeting with Jenkins and Moss and two other men to stake out the Canoga Park church school where the detective was shot as he picked up his son. Cooper’s attorneys contend that he never carried out the plan and is not legally culpable.

Present in court was Williams’ widow, Norma, who faithfully attended the court proceedings for Jenkins and Moss.