Teen-Ager Confessed to Zuma Beach Slaying, Detective Tells Court : Crime: A ruling is expected today on whether youths will be tried as adults in Northridge woman’s killing.

A 17-year-old New Mexico youth confessed to stabbing a Northridge woman to death last May in a Zuma Beach restroom as he and two friends stole her car to return to New Mexico, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department homicide detective testified Thursday.

Detective William Newman testified in Sylmar Juvenile Court that Guillermo Bustos told him during a June 7 tape-recorded interview that he stabbed Jacqueline Kirkham, 43, twice while Michael Loretto, 17, held her in a chokehold on the restroom floor.

Newman said the woman was “struggling on the ground, and when Bustos entered the bathroom, Loretto said something to the effect of ‘get her’ or ‘do it.’ ”

The testimony was the most dramatic yet in a fitness hearing to determine whether Bustos and Loretto, who have been charged with murder, will be tried as juveniles or adults. Commissioner Jack Gold is expected to issue a ruling today.

Defense attorneys requested that the taped interviews not be played in the hearing, which began Wednesday. The youths are not expected to testify.

Newman also recounted an interview with Jason Alexander, 17, a friend of Bustos and Loretto, who was standing outside the restroom at the time of the killing. As the three ran toward Kirkham’s car, Alexander said he passed by the restroom and saw Kirkham lying in a pool of blood.

“He said he smelled blood,” Newman said.

The three were arrested June 5 after New Mexico State Police found Kirkham’s wrecked car on a highway north of Santa Fe.

Alexander, who did not participate in the attack, was not charged.

Newman said Alexander told him that the three teen-agers had traveled to Los Angeles by bus in late May after fleeing from the small New Mexico town of Pojoaque to avoid a burglary investigation. The three arrived in downtown Los Angeles May 25 and eventually made their way to Zuma Beach, Newman said.

Newman said he was told by Alexander that the youths ran out of money and food. They attempted to contact Alexander’s grandfather, who lives in Camarillo, for help, but he was in Germany at the time. They slept across the street in restrooms in a mini-mall, he said.

On May 28, the youths decided to steal a car and drive back to New Mexico, Newman said. When they saw Kirkham drive up in a red sports car and park, “they were all agreed that this was their way out,” Newman said he was told by Alexander.

The youths watched Kirkham for three hours as she relaxed on the beach, he said. She then walked back toward her car and went into the restroom, Newman said. After a few moments, Loretto followed her inside, he said.

According to Alexander, Loretto confronted Kirkham and punched her in the face, knocking her down, Newman said. As they struggled, Kirkham screamed hysterically and bit Loretto’s finger, he said.

Loretto then whistled for help, and Bustos ran into the restroom with the knife, Newman said.

After the slaying, the three drove off in Kirkham’s car toward Barstow, where they pawned two of her rings. They then drove to Laughlin, Nev., where Bustos threw the knife into the Colorado River, authorities have said.