Man Held in Killings of Woman, Girl

A Van Nuys man who police said “leans toward satanic beliefs” has been arrested on charges that he raped and sodomized a 13-year-old girl, then shot her and a woman several times and left them fatally wounded on roadsides a few miles apart in the northeastern San Fernando Valley.

Steven Carl Leigh, a 35-year-old worker with the Department of Water and Power, pleaded not guilty Tuesday in San Fernando Municipal Court to two counts of first-degree murder and one count each of rape, sodomy and lewd conduct with a minor under the age of 14, authorities said.

He also faces allegations of murder with special circumstances because prosecutors believe the killings took place at gunpoint and at the same time the rape and sodomy were committed, Deputy Dist. Atty. Rosalie Morton said. He could receive the death penalty if convicted.

Los Angeles homicide detectives said Leigh dabbled in the occult, but they declined to elaborate on whether his interest in satanism was related to the slaying of Jamie Jensen, a runaway teen-ager from Canoga Park, and Dawn McGrath, 21, of Mission Hills. The two were found Jan. 20 about 2 1/2 miles apart in the Pacoima and Mission Hills areas and died of gunshot wounds to the head and upper body a few days later.

Police arrested Leigh without incident Saturday morning after serving a search warrant at his home in the 7700 block of Balboa Boulevard, Detective Woodrow Parks said.

Leigh, the woman and the girl were all friends, Parks said, but he declined to discuss a possible motive or what evidence linked Leigh to the killings, saying the investigation is continuing.

The woman and girl were last seen the evening of Jan. 19 walking away from a Mission Hills residence near where McGrath was later found, said Parks, who offered no further details.

Leigh was ordered held without bail and is scheduled to appear before a judge for a preliminary hearing next Tuesday.