VAN NUYS : 3 Face Trial in Shooting Deaths

Three Los Angeles men were ordered to stand trial Monday on more than 50 charges stemming from a five-month crime spree that included the slayings of a Van Nuys storekeeper and a Maywood police officer.

After a monthlong preliminary hearing, Municipal Judge Michael S. Luros said there was enough evidence to link the trio to the May 4, 1992, shooting deaths of Woodley Market owner Lee Chul Kim and Officer John A. Hoglund less than a month later.

Carlos Juarez, 23, Jose Contreras, 21, and Benjamin Alberto Navarro, 22, were ordered to appear May 3 in Superior Court for an arraignment.

In addition to two counts of murder, the three Salvadoran nationals face five special circumstance allegations that could lead to the death penalty if they are convicted.

Luros also determined that they should stand trial on one count of attempted murder, four counts of assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of assault with a stun gun, 41 counts of robbery and eight counts of attempted robbery.

Prosecutors allege that the trio--and three other men who remain at large--were responsible for a series of armed robberies that started New Year’s Eve, 1991. A majority of the eight crimes in which they are charged occurred in the San Fernando Valley, and all involved Korean-owned markets that provided check-cashing services.

Juarez and Contreras are accused of being the gunmen who used 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistols to kill Kim during a struggle in his store. The 49-year-old Kim dropped the keys to his safe when the robbery started, and the thieves left without any money, Deputy Dist. Atty. Susan Speer said.

Hoglund, 46, was killed in a hail of bullets on May 30, 1992, when he was the first officer to respond to an alarm at George’s Market on East 52nd Street. While Navarro is suspectedof firing several shots, Juarez is accused of actually hitting Hoglund three times.