Officers Press Hunt for Kidnap-Slayers

Santa Ana police and Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies on Tuesday pressed their investigations into the kidnaping of two Santa Ana men who were robbed and then driven to Malibu, where one was fatally shot.

Authorities declined Tuesday to release the names of the victims. They said new information on the case may be released today.

The abductions occurred about 10:30 p.m. Sunday night when the victims were taken from a Santa Ana bar at gunpoint and robbed of their wallets and gold jewelry, according to Sgt. Tom Pitkin, watch commander for the Malibu station of the Sheriff’s Department.

After driving the victims around for more than three hours, the kidnapers took them to a point on Decker Road about a quarter-mile north of Pacific Coast Highway, made them get out of the car and kneel by the side of the road, Pitkin said.

One of the victims was then shot once in the back of the head at close range.

“It was an execution,” Pitkin said. “It blew out the back of his head. When the survivor saw them execute his friend, he just bailed out and headed down the hill.”

The survivor, who apparently eluded his captors for about four hours in the dense brush, was described as a Salvadoran national between the ages of 25 and 30.

Decker Road, in the area where he made his escape, is one of the steepest and most remote roads in the Malibu area, Pitkin said.

The survivor waited until daylight Monday and then flagged down a passing motorist.

Since the shooting, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies and investigators from the Santa Ana Police Department have uncovered few clues that they will discuss publicly but have run onto many unanswered questions.

“This begs the question: If they were just going to rob them, why drive all that way?” asked one officer, who asked not to be identified. “And why kill them over a robbery? I would suspect they were looking for more than just what these (victims) had on them.”

Police do not know what type of gun was used, and the only clue left at the scene was a pair of surgical gloves, apparently used to prevent fingerprints from being left behind, Pitkin said.

Times staff writer Allison Samuels contributed to this report.