Murder, Kidnap Charges Filed Against Man in Death of Boy, 8

Ventura County prosecutors filed murder, kidnaping and arson charges Monday against Gregory Scott Smith in the death of 8-year-old Paul Bailly, whose gagged and burned body was found 10 days ago near Simi Valley.

Prosecutors also alleged that the murder took place during a kidnaping, a special circumstance that could mean the death penalty for Smith, 21, of Canoga Park, if he is convicted.

Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury said he believes there is “no question” that Smith was responsible for Paul’s death. “If there was, we wouldn’t file charges,” he said.

Paul died within four hours of his disappearance from the child-care program at Darby Avenue Elementary School in Northridge, where his mother had dropped him off on the morning of March 23.

The boy’s body was found about noon the same day by firefighters who were called to extinguish a brush fire in the Santa Susana Knolls area south of Simi Valley.

Last Thursday, Ventura County Coroner Dr. F. Warren Lovell ruled that Paul choked to death on his own vomit while his mouth was taped shut. Lovell said Paul’s body was set on fire after he died.

Lovell said it did not appear after a preliminary examination that Paul had been sexually assaulted, but Bradbury said investigators are awaiting the results of tests which could confirm if he was molested.

Smith appeared Monday in Ventura County Municipal Court to be arraigned on the charges, but agreed to a postponement until April 16 because his attorney had not had time to read the police report. He will continue to be held without bail at Ventura County Jail.

On Monday, Smith’s attorney, Barry F. Hammond, received a copy of the police report, which Bradbury called “voluminous.”

Smith appeared in a light-blue prison uniform with his head bowed before Municipal Court Judge Thomas Hutchins. When Hutchins asked if he agreed to the postponement, Smith briefly raised his eyes to the judge and quietly said “yes.”

Hammond asked Hutchins for permission to appoint a co-counsel and an investigator to help him defend Smith, but Hutchins said he would let a Superior Court judge make that determination.

Bradbury said a report on what was found during searches of Smith’s car and home and affidavits about the circumstances of Paul’s death will remain under court seal “to keep them from the media so as not to have prejudice against the defendant in this case.”