Plotter in Ambush Killing of Detective Gets 25 Years to Life

A Los Angeles man who helped plot the ambush slaying of a Los Angeles police detective was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison Wednesday in Van Nuys Superior Court.

Judge Kathryne Ann Stoltz imposed the penalty on Voltaire Alphonse Williams, 26, who was convicted Feb. 21 of conspiracy to commit murder in the death of Detective Thomas C. Williams, 40.

The same jury acquitted Williams, who is no relation to the late police officer, of first-degree murder.

The detective died on Halloween, 1985, in a volley of gunfire as he picked up his 6-year-old son from a Canoga Park church school. The child was not injured.

Four other men were tried in the killing. In October, Daniel Jenkins, 33, a North Hollywood limousine driver convicted of masterminding the plot to kill Thomas Williams, was sentenced to die in the gas chamber.

The detective was gunned down just hours after he had testified against Jenkins in a robbery trial.

Ruben Antonio Moss, 26, described as Jenkins’ “loyal lieutenant,” also was convicted of first-degree murder in the officer’s death. In December, he was sentenced to life in prison.

Last month, Reecy Clem Cooper, 34, was acquitted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

On Monday, the district attorney’s office announced that it will retry Duane Moody, 30, for murder in the officer’s death. A jury acquitted Moody of conspiracy to commit murder last month but deadlocked on the murder charge against him.

During the 10-week trial, Voltaire Williams, an aspiring boxer, admitted to meeting with Jenkins on Oct. 24, 1985, to plan the officer’s slaying. But his attorney, Lewis Watnick, said his client initially agreed to help Jenkins kill the detective but backed out.

‘Gave Back the Gun’

“He gave back the gun and the gloves six days before the murder took place,” Watnick said after Williams was convicted. He said Williams decided he could not morally go through with the killing.

Watnick said his client was in Oakland at the time of the killing. Prosecutors disputed the claim that Williams had backed out of the conspiracy but agreed that he had been out of town when the shooting occurred.

Watnick alleged Wednesday that Jenkins plans to have Williams killed and asked that he be imprisoned in a different institution than Jenkins. The judge agreed to note Watnick’s request on the sentencing order.

The officer’s wife, Norma, and his daughter, Susan, were in court for the sentencing.

Williams will be eligible for parole in about 17 years, authorities said.