TARZANA : 2 Men Face Trial in Slaying of Partner

Two Burbank businessmen Friday were ordered to stand trial for murder in the killing of a former business partner shot to death three months ago near Mulholland Drive in Tarzana.

There is sufficient evidence to try David Thayne Smith, 34, and Daniel Joseph Miller, 46, for the slaying of their former partner, Stefan Sweetser, 23, said Van Nuys Municipal Judge Michael Luros.

At a preliminary hearing before the judge’s ruling, Los Angeles police detectives said Smith and Miller each blamed the other for shooting Sweetser to death.

In statements to police after their arrest Oct. 20, Smith and Miller admitted that they and Sweetser had burglarized nearly completed houses throughout the San Fernando Valley.

But each defendant told police that the other man became upset with Sweetser over the division of spoils and unexpectedly shot Sweetser to death at a construction site, police testified.

Windows and doors stolen from construction sites were sold through the business owned by Smith and Miller, Visions Windows & Doors in Burbank, police said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Gloria M. Mas argued that the evidence suggested that the defendants conspired to kill Sweetser and to steal his truck and other property.

Neither defendant testified at the hearing. Mas said no decision has been made on whether to seek the death penalty in the case.