5 Paragraphs to Sum Up a Shortened Life

Linda called the other day. We’ve been friends for several years. Not close friends, but friends all the same. It had been a year, maybe more, since we’d last spoken.

“I’m calling because I have a friend who was murdered in the Valley.”

She was wondering if I might want to attend a memorial service for Leon Friedland, a stranger to me. Or maybe I would write something that might somehow help Los Angeles police find out who shot Leon dead March 15in the garage of his Canoga Park home. It didn’t seem right to Linda that her friend’s death would be reduced to five paragraphs tucked inside the Valley Edition.

It so happened that when Linda called, I was working on a story about Dr. Paul Hackmeyer, who last year survived an attack by gunmen that was in some ways similar to the one that claimed Leon Friedland’s life. Both men were confronted as they arrived home late at night. Dr. Hackmeyer, though shot three times, was much luckier that Leon.

I told Linda I wouldn’t be able to attend the memorial.

Five paragraphs. Doesn’t seem like much, but these days, some homicide victims don’t even get that. Most people understand that news judgment is a tricky, capricious, coarse practice, influenced by a host of variables. If Leon Friedland, 47 and single, had lived where murder is more commonplace, his slaying might have been noted in a single paragraph in a roundup of murder and mayhem. Or it might not have made the news at all.

The headline contains another clue: “Police Find Broker Shot to Death.” Now, if Leon had been, say, a minor player on a hit sitcom instead of a mortgage broker, he might have gotten a big story with a photo. Or, of course, if he had an O.J. connection.

Five paragraphs. Leon, it says here, was apparently confronted about 10 p.m. as he returned from a Clippers game. His home was in the 20700 block of Bassett Street. His body was found after his secretary became concerned when he didn’t show up for work. The motive, police said, appeared to be robbery, because Leon’s car was missing. It’s a ’92 Acura Legend, dark green, California license plate 3CBZ591.

Linda passed along the phone number for detectives working the case. So far, I’m just getting busy signals.

*

Linda also faxed an article that appeared in a rival newspaper. Here’s a quote from the Northridge man who attended the Clippers game with Leon: “He was just a great guy, this is unbelievable. . . . Everyone thought they were his best friend. He was their best friend. He just always wanted to help people.”

The friend also talked about how Leon loved to listen to the oldies. And he said that Leon was security-conscious. He had alarm systems for both his home and his car.

Car alarms always seem to shriek at the smallest vibration. Did the alarm go off this time?

Finally, on the fifth try, my call got through. Detective Rick Swanston provided an update on the case.

The victim’s car had been found, intact, on March 18 in the 13700 block of Desmond Street. If anybody saw somebody leave the car there, Swanston said, detectives would like to hear about it. The West Valley homicide number is (818) 756-8546, and the LAPD’s 24-hour number for detectives is (213) 485-2504.

No, the car alarm never went off. Neighbors, Swanston said, recalled hearing something that sounded like gunfire at about 10:15, about 15 minutes after Leon dropped off his friend in Northridge. The sound wasn’t so alarming as to prompt neighbors to call police--not a surprise to Swanston. “If you don’t see anything, you’re probably not going to call. And this happened inside Mr. Friedland’s garage.”

Detectives theorize that it was a follow-home robbery, requiring at least two culprits, one to drive each car. Oddly, Swanston said, the victim was not robbed of personal effects, such as jewelry. “Why kill a guy to drive only 15 miles to Pacoima? We’re still not sure what this all means.”

The best hope of making an arrest, the detective said, is for one perpetrator “to roll on the other one. . . . Maybe he gets arrested and wants to make a deal. Or maybe we’ll be able to tie him up with some physical evidence.”

Last year, West Valley detectives handled 15 homicides and resolved, or “cleared,” each one. But ’94 was a slow year for murder in this particular turf. The previous year, West Valley handled 27 homicides, a regional record. About a quarter of those remain unresolved.

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Five paragraphs. Leon Friedland’s murder also might have gotten more ink if the crime had fit into a distinct pattern, such as that frightening spate of carjackings in ’93. It may be some small comfort to know that, by Los Angeles standards, the risk of encountering Leon Friedland’s fate is very small in the West Valley police division. Every year, it ranks low among LAPD divisions in homicide.

“My goal is to try to get this person caught,” Linda said. She is hoping to muster reward money. I told her I’d try to do something.

First, I had to finish the task at hand, so I called Dr. Hackmeyer to ask some follow-up questions. We chatted a bit. It so happened that he, too, knew a friend of the late Leon Friedland. Small world.

Scott Harris’ column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.