Car Owner Who Shot Transient Freed, May Face Murder Charge

A Los Angeles man who has killed two unarmed transients in his garage in the last four months has been released from police custody, but prosecutors said Tuesday that murder charges may be filed in the latest shooting.

Enrique Agraz, 52, was arrested Thursday after he called police to his Westlake area home. Agraz told police he had shot and killed a man after catching the intruder tampering with his Toyota pickup truck, which had been equipped with a silent alarm. Agraz told police an almost identical story last December when he summoned police to his home after shooting another intruder.

Agraz has said that both men behaved in a threatening manner.

After last week’s shooting, Los Angeles police detectives said they would ask the district attorney to charge Agraz with murder. Lt. Marlin Warkentin of the Police Department’s Rampart Division homicide section said investigators do not believe Agraz was in fear of his life--which is required by state law to justify a claim of self defense by use of deadly force--when he shot 34-year-old James Oliver McGilvery.

“We feel strongly that murder charges should be filed in this case,” Warkentin said.

Prosecutors have asked police to submit a toxicology report on the victim and transcripts of interviews with Agraz and a witness to the shooting. Police could not provide that data within the 48-hour time limit in which Agraz had to be charged or freed. But Warkentin said police expect to have the report and transcripts by the end of the week.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Norm Shapiro said Tuesday that police were still investigating the case.

In the first incident at Agraz’s apartment building near MacArthur Park, the district attorney’s office declined to file charges in the death of Artemis Ward, 35, citing a lack of evidence.