Police-Killer’s Partner Gets Life in Prison

A Los Angeles man convicted as an accomplice in the Halloween, 1985, ambush slaying of a Los Angeles police detective was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Ruben Antonio Moss, 27, was sentenced for his part in the fatal shooting of Los Angeles Police Detective Thomas C. Williams, 42. Moss conspired with co-defendant Daniel S. Jenkins of North Hollywood to kill Williams to prevent him from testifying against Jenkins at a robbery trial.

Williams was gunned down in front of his 6-year-old son outside a Canoga Park day-care center on Oct. 31, 1985. The boy was unharmed. Prosecutors said Moss helped plan the murder and drove one of the two cars used the day Jenkins shot Williams.

Moss was convicted on Aug. 31 of first-degree murder and conspiracy. Jurors recommended the sentence that Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Judith Ashmann imposed Thursday.

Efforts Unsuccessful

Moss’ attorney, Michael V. White, was unsuccessful in efforts to have the sentencing recommendation overturned.

In his arguments, White cited a letter he received signed by seven of the 12 jurors. The letter said those jurors felt a life sentence without the possibility of parole for Moss was too harsh.

“We, the jurors in the case of People vs. Ruben Antonio Moss, were given two options in deciding his sentence: life in prison without the possibility of parole or death. If we had been given the alternative, our choice would have been to sentence Mr. Moss to life in prison with the possibility of parole. The degree of Mr. Moss’ involvement in this offense merits a reduced sentence. We certainly don’t feel he should spend the rest of his life in prison.”

Moss, who worked for Jenkins, has been depicted as a follower who was manipulated by Jenkins into taking part in the murder.

“His efforts to ingratiate himself to co-defendant Jenkins set the stage for him to be exploited and manipulated by a more sophisticated and criminally oriented companion,” said a probation report prepared for the sentencing.

A psychiatric report submitted to the court said Moss “would do all sorts of things to try and gain acceptance.”

Moss claimed that he had no involvement in the murder. “I don’t believe in violence, and I wouldn’t kill nobody,” he was quoted as saying in the psychiatric report.

Jenkins Sentenced to Die

Jenkins, 33, was convicted by a Van Nuys Superior Court jury in July and was sentenced to die in the gas chamber.

Jenkins also was convicted of trying to kill another witness, George Carpenter, a North Hollywood theater manager who was to testify at Jenkins’ robbery trial. Carpenter was shot five times but survived.

Three other accused accomplices--Voltaire Alphonse Williams, 25; Reecy Clem Cooper, 34, and Dwayne Moody, 30, all of Los Angeles--are on trial for Williams’ murder.