STUDIO CITY : Waitress Describes Musician’s Killing
A waitress at a Studio City restaurant testified Friday in Van Nuys Municipal Court that she saw one of two Pacoima men charged with murder and a series of robberies standing over a man before and after the man was shot to death.
Claudette Diek testified at a preliminary hearing for Claude E. Davis, 28, and Howard D. Holt, 28, that she saw Davis point a rifle at Vartan Mouradian, 33, a musician at the Grecian Village restaurant, as he lay face down on Nov. 27.
Diek, who was also lying face down, said she heard a shot and looked up to see Davis walk over Mouradian to grab jewelry from another man.
“I never saw such a ruthless, heartless, cold murder,” Diek said. “He stepped over him like he killed a dog.”
Davis and Holt, both paroled felons, are each charged with 43 counts of robbery, three counts of attempted murder, four counts of assault and one count of murder with the special circumstance that it was committed during a robbery, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Carole Anne Chizever.
Davis and Holt were arrested in January after they attempted to rob the Grandview Chinese Restaurant in North Hollywood and got into a gunfight with police. A police officer and Holt were wounded in the shootout.
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