TARZANA : Suspect Admits He Was at Murder Site
A man accused of murdering a partner in a burglary ring admitted to police that he was at the site of the Tarzana killing, prosecutors said Friday.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Gloria Maria Mas told a Superior Court jury that David Thayne Smith, 34, gave conflicting statements to police before he admitted being at the remote Reseda Boulevard location where Stefan Sweetser was shot to death Oct. 16.
“All right, I was there at the murder scene, but I wasn’t the one who shot,” Smith of Fountain Valley told authorities, according to Mas’ opening statement to the jury.
Smith and Sweetser jointly owned Visions Windows & Door in Burbank, and together with another man, Daniel Joseph Miller, they robbed construction sites throughout the San Fernando Valley and sold the spoils at their store, according to authorities.
Sweetser’s body was found on the dirt portion of Reseda Boulevard, near Mulholland Drive. Prosecutors theorize that Smith and Miller lured him there under the pretense of burglarizing another construction site.
Miller was convicted last week of murder in the death of Sweetser. He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole at a hearing scheduled July 7.
Prosecutors said they believe Smith and Miller conspired to kill Sweetser to cut him out of the profits of their illegal enterprise.
Prosecutors said the victim’s wallet was discovered in a Huntington Beach storage facility that Smith allegedly rented, according to prosecutors.
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