Jury Asks Life Term for Ex-Officer Convicted of 1983 Murder for Hire

Former Los Angeles Police Officer Robert Von Villas should be sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole for the contract killing of a Northridge businessman, a jury decided Thursday.

The Van Nuys Superior Court panel could have recommended the death penalty, but some jurors said they were concerned about the family of the 44-year-old Simi Valley man.

“It’s better this way for his kids, not to have their father put to death,” juror Oliver Lloyd said. “If he can prove himself in jail, he may help his family. Under controlled circumstances, maybe he can do a little good.”

The former Devonshire Division detective was convicted last month of first-degree murder and conspiracy in the death of Thomas Weed, 52, who disappeared Feb. 23, 1983. His body has never been found.

Prosecutors said Von Villas and co-defendant Richard Herman Ford, 48, another former Devonshire Division detective who was also convicted, killed Weed for $20,000 from Weed’s former wife, Janie Ogilvie. Ogilvie, who was allowed to plead guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for her cooperation, said she feared that Weed was stealing money from the couple’s allergy testing clinic.

The two former officers were tried at the same time, but before separate juries. The Ford jury deadlocked over punishment and prosecutors have not decided whether to seek a new penalty phase of his trial.

Jurors deliberating Von Villas’ fate also nearly deadlocked. Marge Kitchen, 44, of Sepulveda, who favored capital punishment, said she was the last juror to change her vote.

“If there was any case that dictated the death penalty, this was it,” Kitchen said. “Unfortunately I could see that there was no argument that I could present that would sway 11 other jurors to my way of thinking. I think the crime was heinous and this man was a tremendous menace to society.”

The prosecutor, Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert P. O’Neill, said: “I’m not disappointed. They (jurors) did what they were asked to do and that’s the way the system works.”

Kitchen said Von Villas seemed to have “two drastically opposite personalities: one who did wonderful things for kids and another who did horrendous, sickening acts. It’s almost impossible to reconcile the two.”

Defense attorney Jack Stone said he was elated by the jury’s decision.

Judge Darlene E. Schempp set sentencing for Jan. 26.