Beggar’s Killer Also Shot a Man in 1987 : Shooting: Self-defense was claimed both times. Victim in earlier case was wounded in the foot.

A Van Nuys man who fatally shot a panhandler last week but was released from jail after he claimed self-defense also shot someone six years ago in a case that never came to trial because he made the same claim.

In the earlier case, Charles Hoyle wounded a man who knocked on the door of his house by mistake looking for a friend. Hoyle’s attorney said the man had forced his way into the house.

Detectives confirmed Thursday that Hoyle, 25, was involved in both cases but said they were unaware of the previous shooting Tuesday when they released Hoyle from jail. After learning of it late Thursday, they interviewed Hoyle again, said Detective John Edwards of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Van Nuys Division.

“He acknowledged the earlier shooting,” Edwards said, adding that he was not sure what influence the earlier shooting would have on the current case.

Hoyle was arrested last week on suspicion of killing Reggie Brian MacKay, 25, at a Van Nuys gas station. He was released Tuesday to allow detectives more time to investigate conflicting eyewitness statements, some of which corroborated Hoyle’s account that MacKay was armed with a knife or a screwdriver when he confronted him and asked for money.

Hoyle refused MacKay’s request, and when approached again moments later, Hoyle shot the panhandler.

Hoyle did not respond Thursday to inquiries from The Times, including two visits to his Langdon Avenue home, where three “no trespassing” signs were posted near the front door.

According to documents filed in Van Nuys Superior Court and interviews with attorneys for both men, Hoyle shot Michael Leon Beaman on Dec. 16, 1987.

Hoyle was not prosecuted because he contended that Beaman forced his way into the house and threatened to kill Hoyle and his parents, said Christina Arnall, one of Hoyle’s attorneys in the case.

Beaman has moved out of state and could not be reached for comment. After officials declined to prosecute Hoyle, Beaman filed a lawsuit against him in November, 1988, seeking $150,000 in damages.

The attorney who represented him, Gordon D. Soladar, said that Beaman, whom both lawyers agree was drunk at the time, knocked on the front door of the house looking for a friend he mistakenly believed was there. When Beaman refused to leave the front stoop, Hoyle shot him in the foot, Soladar said.

“If he was breaking down the door, that would have been one thing,” Soladar said. “But to open the door, poke a shotgun out and go boom is something else.”

Last year, Beaman received a settlement of under $20,000 from Hoyle’s insurance company under a homeowner policy, both lawyers said Thursday.

The current case against Hoyle is weak because at least two eyewitnesses said MacKay threatened him, Edwards said. Hoyle told detectives that MacKay was armed with a small knife.

Two panhandlers said MacKay was armed with a screwdriver, Edwards said.

Times correspondent Thom Mrozek contributed to this story.