Gang Violence Pushes O.C. Homicides to New Record

Spurred by a dramatic rise in gang slayings, homicides in Orange County were at a record level in 1990, law enforcement officials say.

“The increase in gang-related homicides pushed us over the top,” Chief Deputy Coroner Jim Beisner said. “The rest (of the homicides) run the complete gamut.”

There were 171 murders in the county during the year, 28 of which were confirmed as being gang-related. In 1989, there were 158 homicides, 16 of which were gang-related.

Besides the increase in numbers, Beisner said the year’s homicides also seem more violent than in the past.

“The killers don’t seem to be satisfied with just one shot,” Beisner said.

And children were often the targets of attack. Some were slain in gang shootings, one was stabbed to death by a man who claimed to have been possessed, and in another case a youth shot a classmate--just as he had done to another friend four years before.

Santa Ana led the county with 16 gang-related murders. But Police Lt. Robert Helton said the number might have been substantially higher had the department not launched a controversial program of weekend sweeps in May that targeted neighborhoods known for gang violence. The sweeps were initiated after a spree of terrifying shootings in Santa Ana left two teen-agers dead and two other youngsters seriously wounded.

“There’s no question about it: Gang members are using more guns to solve their problems,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Brent Romney, head of the county’s gang prosecution unit.

One slaying, on April 20, involved two gang members who shouted slogans at each other outside a birthday party in Santa Ana. Elezar Gonzales, who was acquited of the 1988 murder of a fellow gang member, allegedly pulled a gun on Rojelio M. Ochoa, 17, of Santa Ana after the two claimed their allegiance. Ochoa was then shot four times in the back. Gonzales is awaiting trial.

“We started right off the bat with a number of gang homicides in the beginning of the year,” Helton said. “We believe the suppression effort has kept the crime picture down.”

Overall, Santa Ana had 39 homicides, a 30% drop from the previous year’s 54 killings.

Colleene Hodges, who heads the county’s gang violence suppression unit, said Orange County gang members are becoming sophisticated and using guns.

“It’s been guns and bullets by the carload,” Hodges said. “Getting shot nowadays for a gang member is not a crisis. It’s a badge of honor.”

Although central Orange County carried the brunt of gang activities, affluent South County did not escape the violence.

In November, Roman C. Calvillo, 26, was gunned down at a San Clemente restaurant after a vicious bottle fight and a night of taunting by rival gang members. Calvillo’s death marked the city’s first gang slaying and its first homicide in five years.

While Orange County has nowhere near as monstrous a gang problem as Los Angeles, which recorded more than 550 gang-related homicides during the year, Romney said local gangs are beginning to commit more violent crimes.

In 1989, the gang prosecution unit filed 1,268 cases, Romney said. In the first 11 months of 1990, the unit filed 2,091 cases. Once December is included, the number may reach 2300, he said.

“The gang problem in Orange County is like a stream flowing into a pond,” Romney said. “If we don’t dam this stream, it’s going to be a losing battle.”

Several of the year’s murder victims included infants and other children.

In one of the most wrenching deaths, 3-year-old Marcelline Onick was stabbed 44 times by her baby-sitter, Michael R. Pacewitz on March 3. At first Pacewitz, 21, told reporters in jailhouse interviews that Satan told him to kill the girl. Later, he changed his story and said he thought the girl and her mother were Satan. Prosecutors later contended that Pacewitz had killed the girl to get back at her mother. Pacewitz has since been convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

Four months later, in June, Autumn Wallace, a bright, bubbly 9-year-old, was stabbed dozens of times. The alleged killer, police say, is Maria del Rosio Alfaro, a 19-year-old family friend, who was allegedly robbing the Wallace home in search of money to buy drugs.

Police say drugs also played a role in the killing of 12-year-old Pedro Hernandez of Santa Ana. Last August, a man involved in a dispute over drugs fired shots from his truck into a crowd standing on a street corner. But instead of hitting his intended targets, one bullet struck the youth once in the head.

Most of county homicides occurred in urban areas. But at least one occurred at the beach.

Last September, Christian Steffens, now 17, allegedly shot Robert Elliot to death at a Dana Strand, a popular surfing spot that was crowded at the time. According to court testimony, Steffens was terrified of Elliot and fired the shot because he feared for his life. A juvenile court is expected to soon decide if Steffens will be bound over for trial in Superior Court.

Orange County also had its share of bizarre murders.

The death of 17-year-old Christian Wiedpuhl took a “Twilight Zone” turn when police disclosed that his alleged killer, Richard H. Bourassa Jr., 17, fatally wounded another classmate four years before in the same room at approximately the same time of day.

In 1986, Bourassa had killed 13-year-old Jeffrey A. Bush when the two had been playing with a 12-gauge shotgun. Bourassa told police the shotgun at Bush when it accidentally discharged.

This time, Bourassa said that a .38-caliber handgun went off after he tried to take the gun away from Wiedpuhl. A judged found Bourassa’s explanation “totally unbelievable” and has ordered him to stand trial.

Tow-truck driver Neill F. Matzen was accused of bludgeoning Buena Park nurse Donna J. Connaty on Nov. 24 in exchange for a promised $15,000 from her husband, Richard, who wanted custody of their two children. But Richard Connaty was killed by Matzen a week later. Connaty walked to Matzen’s trailer home and shouted “You killed my wife,” before shooting Matzen in the left shoulder. Matzen then grabbed a gun and shot Connaty in the chest outside the trailer.

Police ruled that Matzen shot Richard Connaty in self-defense, but Matzen was considered a prime suspect in the wife’s murder. After his release from the hospital for the gunshot wound, Matzen wrote a letter to a newspaper confessing to Donna Connaty’s murder and vowing to commit suicide. But police captured Matzen a week later, hiding inside a shed in Fontana. He is in jail awaiting trial.

Orange County Homicides

Murder reached a record level in 1990, in part due to a dramatic increase in gang-related homicides, police say.

1986: 112 1987: 99 1988: 125 1989: 159* 1990: 171** *16 were gang-related. **28 were verified as gang-related; three others were possibly gang-related. Source: Orange County coroner