Former Husband of Aissa Wayne Held as Suspect in Attack

Newport Beach police late Tuesday night arrested Pomona surgeon Thomas A. Gionis on suspicion of conspiracy in the brutal attack last October on his ex-wife, Aissa Wayne, and her financier boyfriend, The Times Orange County Edition has learned.

Newport Beach Police Sgt. Steve Van Horn confirmed that Gionis, 35, had been arrested on a warrant in connection with the attack on the daughter of the late John Wayne and that he was being transported to the city’s police station. He said Gionis was being held without bail on suspicion of conspiracy to commit assault with a deadly weapon.

Gionis, an orthopedic surgeon who had been involved in a bitter custody battle with Wayne over their now 2-year-old daughter at the time of the Oct. 3 attack, was the third suspect to be arrested in the case.

In March, police arrested two employees of a Los Angeles private investigation firm that was retained by Gionis in the custody dispute. An arrest warrant also has been issued for the Los Angeles firm’s owner, O. Daniel Gal, who authorities said fled to Europe after questioning by detectives. Gal remained at large Tuesday night.

The arrests follow an intensive investigation into the Oct. 3 attack on Wayne, 32, and her then boyfriend, Roger W. Luby, 52, at Luby’s gated estate in Newport Beach.

Police in court documents have alleged that Gionis paid $40,000 to Gal during a two-week period a month before the attack on Wayne and Luby.

Aissa Wayne could not be reached for comment late Tuesday. However, her mother, Pilar Wayne, expressed shock--and jubilation.

“Marvelous!” Pilar Wayne said. “I’m speechless. Oh my God, I’m absolutely speechless. This thing has kept me up night after night after night worrying about it. I didn’t expect anything like this.”

Wayne was bloodied in the attack by two men. Luby was beaten and had his Achilles tendon slashed. One of the men told the two before leaving, “You’re messing with the wrong guy. Next time, we kill you.”

The police investigation almost immediately centered upon Gionis, whom Wayne had said in divorce court documents had threatened to kill her if she ever tried to leave him and take their infant daughter, Anastasia.

Married in 1986, the couple was separated in 1987, and their divorce became final last year. Gionis was awarded custody of Anastasia following a court hearing in January. A judge ruled that Wayne was not emotionally competent to care for the child on her own. Wayne, who was awarded visitation rights, has said she will appeal the ruling.

Workmen nearby the Luby estate at the time of the attack provided descriptions of the assailants that led to the arrests of the two employees of Gal’s firm.

The employees, Jeffrey Kendall Bouey, 35, a swimming pool cleaner from Simi Valley, and Jerrel L. Hintergardt, 37, of Burbank, were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy and assault with a deadly weapon. Both considered bail risks, they are being held in the Orange County Jail in lieu of $1 million bond each.

In recent weeks, with the investigation narrowing to Gionis, the surgeon hired a criminal defense attorney, several sources close to the investigation said.

Police in Pomona confirmed that Gionis had been arrested at his home there. Pomona Police Lt. Ron Frazier said Newport Beach police had telephoned them to advise that they were about to serve an arrest warrant at Gionis’ home, an estate in the exclusive Phillips Ranch area.