Dying Man Identified Defendant, Witness Says

A witness testified in Van Nuys Superior Court on Monday that the victim of an execution-style murder identified his attacker before he died.

Gloria Mendez Herrera, 32, testified that Manuel Abreu told her that “Danny did it” moments before he died from a stab wound to the chest. Herrera said she knew “Danny” to be Bertulfo Loaiza, 32.

Loaiza is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the Aug. 13, 1987, killings of Abreu, 32, and Javier Restropo, 26.

Both men were stabbed in the chest. Restropo was also shot in the face at close range. Police said the victims, who had been handcuffed and gagged, were killed because they owed Loaiza money for drugs.

Herrera, former manager of the apartment complex where the killings occurred, testified Monday that she saw Loaiza before and after the crimes.

Herrera said she saw Loaiza and two other men trying to push open the door to the victims’ apartment the night of the incident. “I thought they were playing,” Herrera said.

A short time later, she heard two shots, ran to her bathroom window and saw Loaiza jump into a white Camaro and drive away, Herrera said. The other two men, whom she could not identify, fled on foot, Herrera said.

As she called police, a blood-soaked Abreu appeared at her door, Herrera testified. She said Abreu’s last words were, “It was Danny. Danny did it.”

Defense attorney Mark Overland suggested in his opening statement to the jury that Herrera is not a credible witness because she did not tell police that she knew who the killer was until months after the incident.

Herrera testified that she initially did not tell police everything she knew because she feared for her life.

If convicted, Loaiza, a Colombian national, could be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, authorities said.