Girl Testifies About 1987 Kidnaping : Trial: A 15-year-old takes the stand against a man she says abducted, shot and sexually assaulted her and killed her friend.

A 15-year-old girl testified Monday that she was sexually assaulted and drugged before she and her best friend were taken to a secluded canyon, where they were shot and left for dead by a man who kidnaped them in their Chatsworth neighborhood.

The girl calmly recalled the events of the night of Sept. 18, 1987, in San Fernando Superior Court on the first day of the trial of Roland Norman Comtois, 60, who is accused of killing Wendy Masuhara and sexually assaulting the girl who testified. The girl’s name was not made public.

Prosecutors allege that Comtois, a transient who has been convicted in the past of attempted rape, robbery and heroin dealing, fatally shot Wendy, 14, after kidnaping both girls.

He also is charged with kidnaping the girl who testified, then 13, before shooting her in the neck and leaving her with Wendy’s body in an abandoned station wagon near the Chatsworth Reservoir.

Comtois, who was arrested four days after the kidnapings, faces the death penalty if convicted.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Harold S. Lynn called the attack a nightmare and said the shootings were the final acts of a plan by Comtois that was foiled by an “intervening factor”: the girl’s finger, which prevented the bullet from entering her brain when she threw up her hand to protect herself.

Comtois figured that “Dead children tell no tales,” Lynn said in his opening statement.

The girl said she and Wendy were walking in their Chatsworth neighborhood about 11:15 p.m. when they were lured into a camper by a woman who said she was having car trouble.

Prosecutors believe the woman was Marsha Lynn Ramos, 36, who is being tried separately and also could face the death penalty.

In a related action Monday, Superior Court Judge Ronald S. Coen removed attorney Ralph J. Novotney Jr. from Ramos’ defense team after it was learned that Novotney had represented Comtois on a previous case.

After a few minutes of trying to help start the camper, the two girls were confronted by a man holding a “silver gun.” The girl identified the gunman in court as Comtois, a silver-haired, bearded man who sat silently during the girl’s testimony. Comtois ordered the two girls to go to the back of the camper and lie down on a bed, she said.

“He told us if we didn’t cooperate . . . he was going to kill us,” she said.

The two girls were gagged and bound hand and foot with silver-colored duct tape, the girl said. Comtois then drove to another location several minutes away, she said. He asked the girl for directions to Topanga Canyon Boulevard.

It was there that Comtois forced the girl to undress and orally copulate him, she said. He also attempted to sodomize her before telling Ramos to inject the girl with a syringe that he said contained cocaine, the girl said. She was allowed to get dressed.

“I felt dizzy and could hardly breathe,” she said.

The girl then said she and Wendy, who had been locked in a bathroom, were driven to an “empty, isolated” area and told to climb into a green station wagon. They sat next to each other in the right front seat as Comtois leaned into the car through the left rear door, she said.

“He shot me and Wendy,” the girl said.

The first shot hit Wendy in the back of the head. She died instantly, her head falling into the lap of her best friend.

The girl said she saw the gun before Comtois fired a second shot and held up her left hand to protect herself. The bullet hit her left index finger and lodged in her neck behind her ear.

She later was found wandering Valley Circle Boulevard holding a blood-soaked sweater against her wound. She recovered and helped police identify Comtois and Ramos.

Comtois’ attorney, James D. Gregory, did not make an opening statement.

The trial will continue Wednesday.