Jury Convicts Torrance Man in the ‘Ninja Killing’ Case

A Torrance Superior Court jury on Friday convicted a 21-year-old man of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of a Torrance man in his home in March.

The jury deliberated for three hours before returning the verdict against Gary Jose Alderete of Torrance. It also found him guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to commit burglary. Assistant Dist. Atty. Nikola Mikulicich, who prosecuted the case, said Alderete faces 25 years to life in state prison.

The March 2 killing of 39-year-old William Smith was dubbed the “ninja killing” by authorities because Alderete was dressed in black martial arts clothing and carried martial arts weapons.

Four other men also have been charged in the case. Richard Allen Grace, 23, pleaded guilty last month to manslaughter during his trial on murder and conspiracy charges. The other three, Grace’s brother, Michael Patrick Grace; Alexander Vincent Frederick, and Stacy Noelle James, are awaiting their trials.

Authorities said Smith had beaten Richard Allen Grace and threatened to harm his parents. Mikulicich said Grace then asked his brother to hire Alderete to kill Smith.

Smith’s live-in girlfriend testified she had a brief affair with Richard Allen Grace days before the fight and Smith’s subsequent death.

The prosecutor said Alderete broke into Smith’s home and attacked him with at least one of four knives he carried. Smith was stabbed 32 times, Mikulicich said.

Testifying on his own behalf, Alderete told the jury he had only planned to “scare (Smith) off” and that he wore the knives on his ninja garb because “I figured it would look more ominous that way.”

Mikulicich said Alderete’s testimony, along with the evidence against him, made this “a clear-cut case of someone who had been hired to kill another individual.”

“All the jury had to do was listen to Alderete and they could see his character,” Mikulicich added.

However, Alderete’s lawyer, William MacCabe, said he was surprised by the verdict because his client had not intended to commit murder. MacCabe said an appeal is probable.

Judge John Shook scheduled sentencing for Dec. 14.