Carjacking Victims Shared a Love of Life

Tom MacDowell just wanted to make people laugh. Like so many others, he came to Los Angeles with dreams of stardom in the entertainment industry.

Bill Fliehmann loved baseball. He coached several Little League teams and was very proud of his baseball card collection.

Both men were known for their friendliness and good humor. Neither had any known enemies. But about 3 a.m. Wednesday both men were killed in apparently unrelated carjacking incidents less than two miles apart in North Hollywood.

Thomas Martin MacDowell, 32, was parking his 1987 BMW 325 near Hesby Street and Laurel Canyon Boulevard when he was approached by a gunman who shot him, police said. He then drove about 100 feet into a nearby alley where he was found dead about 3:30 a.m., police said. His assailant apparently panicked and fled, police said.

William Edward Fliehmann, 41, an employee of a private company doing repair work for Caltrans, was setting up traffic cones on Victory Boulevard and was killed when he was thrown from a company truck at the entrance ramp to the Hollywood Freeway. His body was discovered by co-workers, Los Angeles police said.

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MacDowell worked as a bartender at the L. A. Cabaret Comedy Club in Encino. He was an aspiring screenwriter, director and comedian, said family members and friends. He sometimes performed in comedy clubs in the Valley and the Westside.

“Everyone compared him to Dana Carvey. He has a lot of the same facial expressions,” said his girlfriend, Adrena Jensen. “He has done several different characters.”

The couple met four years ago when Jensen was working as a cocktail waitress and MacDowell as a bartender at a club in Santa Clarita.

He wanted to be a comedian and screenwriter. She sang country music.

“He made me believe in myself. He taught me to never give up,” Jensen said.

MacDowell, a Chatsworth resident, was on his way to Jensen’s North Hollywood apartment when he was shot. He had left her home about 11 p.m. to visit a friend at the L. A. Cabaret and get a bite to eat. He told her he would return about 3 a.m.

“I heard noise outside my window,” she said. “I thought it was a car backfiring. I didn’t have any idea what happened.”

Just last week, when everyone in the city was on edge over the possibility of more riots following verdicts in the Rodney G. King civil rights trial, MacDowell told Jensen that they should move away from Los Angeles.

“He was very worried about carjackings and robberies. He was very worried about me,” Jensen said. “He really wanted to leave, but he also wanted to stay near the industry.”

After MacDowell heard about the March 30 slaying of a woman near an automated teller during a carjacking attempt at a Sherman Oaks bank, he gave his girlfriend many safety warnings, Jensen said.

“He used to always tell me. ‘Be careful. Watch out. Don’t drive alone.’ He used to tell me to never slow down and always look around for potential carjackers,” Jensen said.

“He loved me so much,” she said. “He just wanted me to be safe and happy.”

MacDowell moved to Los Angeles about eight years ago to pursue his dreams, said his mother, Alice MacDowell of Luning, Nev.

“Even when he was little he talked about getting on TV,” Alice MacDowell said. “He always liked to entertain and make funny faces.”

His mother described improvised skits that he would perform for family members.

“We knew he would make it big in L. A. someday,” she said.

But his family also feared for his safety. His mother and two older brothers advised him to move out of Los Angeles.

“Every time I watched the news, I thought about him,” Alice MacDowell said. “I talked to him about 10 Tuesday night and he promised he would come visit me this weekend.”

“I just can’t believe he’s gone.”

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Shorty Fliehmann heard radio reports about a highway employee getting killed in a carjacking, but he had no idea that it was his brother William.

“I heard it all day long on KFWB, but I just didn’t relate to it,” said Shorty, who heard about it later in the day.

Bill Fliehmann finished his coffee break with some co-workers about 3 a.m. at a doughnut shop and then headed toward Victory Boulevard where he was going to lay down cones to close a portion of the street for a highway improvement project.

He was found dead 15 minutes later on the entrance ramp to the Hollywood Freeway. The truck was gone.

Fliehmann was an employee of Starlight Safety Supply Co., a construction firm based in La Mirada. Company representatives declined to comment Wednesday.

Shorty said Bill worked for Starlight since high school and was devoted to his job.

“He was a company guy and he was trying to save the company truck,” Shorty Fliehmann said.

Fliehmann had told his brother in the past that employees were frequently in dangerous situations. If other workers were present, his brother probably would not have been killed, Shorty said.

“He knew it was dangerous and he said they should have backup” workers, Shorty said.

Several months ago Fliehmann suffered a sprained wrist when he was clipped by a car while working on a freeway shoulder, Shorty said.

“They’ve got a very dangerous job--day or night,” Shorty said.

Albert Martin, manager of Fliehmann’s apartment building, said he was a very friendly guy who minded his own business.

“He was one hell of a nice guy. He wouldn’t hurt a fly,” Martin said.

Fliehmann, 6-foot-2 and 270 pounds, played football and baseball at Monte Vista High School in El Cajon. After finishing school in 1969, he volunteered for many years as a coach for youth baseball and football teams.

“There wasn’t a thing he wouldn’t do for those kids,” Shorty said. “He was a gentle giant.”

Shorty said he felt a mix of sadness and anger at his brother’s death.

“It would be a little different if he had had a motorcycle accident or a car accident but this, this was murder and whoever did it--I hope they burn in hell.”

Kurt Pitzer and staff writer Julie Tamaki contributed to this story.