Prosecutor Urges Murder Conviction in Fatal Robbery

While conceding that the defendant is not the gunman, a prosecutor nevertheless asked a jury Wednesday to convict a Pacoima man of murder in the death of a soft drink salesman who was executed during a supermarket robbery.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Shellie Samuels told a Van Nuys Superior Court jury that Jose Santillan is responsible for the death of a Coca-Cola representative because he participated in a crime that led to a death.

“All of those who participate in the robbery are responsible for any murder which occurs during the robbery, whether or not they were the actual killer,” Samuels said in her opening statement.

The prosecutor asked for a conviction on first-degree murder, a charge that carries a mandatory penalty of 25 years to life in prison.

Santillan, 20, is charged in the death of Robert Ward Jr., a 28-year-old Palmdale man who was talking on the phone to his fiancee--apparently unaware a robbery was taking place--when a gunman fired into the back of his head.

Police are still searching for the gunman and another suspect in the Oct. 19, 1992, killing in the Ralphs supermarket at Sherman Way and Woodman Avenue in Van Nuys. The pair have been featured on several national crime shows, but authorities believe that they have fled to Mexico.

In addition to the murder, Santillan faces 20 felony charges related to his alleged participation in a six-week series of armed robberies at San Fernando Valley supermarkets.

Santillan is accused of participating in eight robberies at seven stores. The Ralphs where Ward was gunned down was hit twice in a two-week period.

Prosecutors originally charged Santillan with special circumstance allegations in Ward’s death that could have sent him to the gas chamber, but a Municipal Court judge threw out those charges last summer.