2 Held in Hollywood Torture Slaying Case

In the latest brutal attack by a gang of homeless youths in Hollywood, a man was tortured for hours and murdered in a condemned building after an argument in which he apparently made comments in support of white supremacy, police said.

Two of the four primary suspects in the death of the unidentified man were arrested Tuesday. As many as 15 people may have witnessed or taken part in the torture and murder in an abandoned Wilcox Avenue building, said Los Angeles Police Detective Andrew Purdy.

The victim, a white man in his mid-30s, appeared to have been burned, beaten and urinated on for three hours, until he died about 1 a.m. Sunday, Purdy said.

Police categorized the attack as a hate crime.

The Hollywood area has been plagued by several groups of homeless youths, ranging in age from 11 to 20, Purdy said. The gangs, going under the names of Hollywood Dogs, Hollywood Cats and Hollywood Punks, are believed responsible for other gruesome crimes in abandoned buildings.

Police say members of the gang believed responsible for Sunday’s crime also committed the December, 1992, rape and attempted murder of a woman with the mental capacity of an 8-year-old. Purdy said the woman was lured into an abandoned building on Holly Drive where she was sodomized and choked. When the suspects thought she was dead, they cut satanic symbols into her back.

A murder occurred in an abandoned building, known as the Hastings, in the 6100 block of Hollywood Boulevard on April 26, 1994, Purdy said. In that case, a man named Adam Pfiffer was killed with a jackhammer chisel, Purdy said.

Although an autopsy has not been completed, the man killed Sunday morning apparently died of a severe skull fracture when a brick was dropped on his head. A large number of bones in his body appear to have been broken, Purdy said.

The attack may have been prompted by the victim making comments in support of the Aryan Brotherhood and the ensuing argument, Purdy said.

According to police, the victim was chased through several floors in the multistory apartment building. He was beaten with wooden and metal poles and burned with cigarettes, lighters and candles.

“Every time he passed out from the pain, they would hit him again, inflicting enough pain to make him conscious again,” Purdy said.

The abuse continued for about three hours as the suspects choked the man and urinated on him and finally killed him, Purdy said.

“This is a group of very, very violent people,” Purdy said.

The bound body lay in the building, occupied by 40 to 50 squatters, most of the day. It was discovered by the Guardian Angels, the citizen patrol group, about 10 p.m. Sunday.

Police interviewed about 20 people, some of them witnesses to the crime, police said. On Tuesday, they arrested Edward Fernandez, 20, and James Snook, 20, both transients who had been living in the Wilcox Avenue building.

Fernandez and Snook are scheduled to be arraigned today on charges of first-degree murder with special circumstances that would make them subject to the death penalty if convicted, Purdy said.

Two other men have been identified and are being sought by police.

Fernandez, whose nickname is “Scarface,” may have been stabbed and cut on the face by an Aryan Brotherhood group while in prison, Purdy said.

Social workers in the Hollywood area said the murder has created a maelstrom of gossip and fear among runaways and transients. One caseworker had to cut off a phone call because she needed to smuggle an adolescent out of her drop-in shelter. Rumors on the street, she said, indicated that her client had “snitched off” the accused killers and that their friends were watching the shelter, which serves only minors, and lying in wait there.

Another social worker, who insisted that her name not be used, said Fernandez was well-known on the drop-in center circuit until about a year ago, when he disappeared. She said she heard about a week ago that he was back in town.

“I was surprised and very saddened” at his arrest, she said. “I liked the kid. He can be warm. He can be friendly. I wish he would have taken advantage of the services and gotten on with his life . . . because--and I know people don’t want to hear this--but for every kid who goes over the edge, there are many others who move forward and do beautifully.”