Jury Acquits Man of 2 Slayings, Cites Witness’s Inconsistencies

A 32-year-old Colombian man was acquitted Wednesday in the drug-related execution-style slaying of two men.

A Van Nuys Superior Court jury found Bertulfo Loaiza not guilty of the Aug. 13, 1987, slayings of Manuel Abreu, 32, and Javier Restropo, 26, both of Van Nuys. The two men had been stabbed in the chest, and Restropo was shot in the face at close range.

Prosecutors said the victims had been handcuffed and gagged before they were killed, allegedly because they owed Loaiza money for drugs.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Susan M. Speer said outside the courtroom Wednesday that she was not surprised at the jury’s verdict. “I expected it. We knew it was going to be tough. We had a small chance . . . and we didn’t want to let him walk.”

Jury members said afterward that there were too many inconsistencies in the testimony of the prosecution’s only witness, Gloria Mendez Herrera, to find Loaiza guilty.

‘Danny Did It’

Herrera, former manager of the apartment complex where the killings took place, testified that Abreu managed to make his way to her apartment and tell her that “Danny did it” moments before he died. Herrera, 32, said she knew “Danny” to be Loaiza.

But prosecutors failed to find another witness to corroborate Herrera’s testimony that Loaiza’s nickname was “Danny.”

Herrera also testified that she was certain she was watching the movie “La Bamba” on television the night of the killings, even though “La Bamba” had not yet been released.

Finally, defense attorney Mark E. Overland argued that Herrera was not a credible witness because she did not tell police that she knew who the killer was until months after the slayings.

Herrera testified that she was hesitant to tell police everything she knew because she feared for her life.