Task Force Solves 33 Murders : Crime: FBI agents and LAPD detectives team up to make a dent in unsolved homicides in the South Bureau.

After six months of operation, a joint task force of FBI agents and Los Angeles police homicide detectives has made arrests in 33 unsolved murders in south Los Angeles, officials announced Tuesday.

The Cooperative Murder Investigative Team--known as COMIT--was organized in March to put a dent in hundreds of unsolved homicides in the Los Angeles Police Department’s South Bureau, an area where drug dealers and street gangs exact a heavy toll on life.

Under the unique arrangement, eight FBI agents and 16 homicide detectives have sifted for new clues in 1,200 unsolved murder cases dating back to 1980. Many of the cases remained a mystery because homicide detectives are continually swamped by new cases.

“When we get many of these cases, we just don’t know what the causes are,” said Lt. Sergio Robleto. Witnesses are often reluctant to come forward in cases involving gang violence and drug dealing.

The South Bureau, which stretches from Baldwin Hills to San Pedro, has one of the highest homicide rates in the city, but traditionally had a lower rate of solving murders than the city’s other three police bureaus. South Bureau has half the city’s homicides and one-fourth of its population, police officials say.

“Cases grow cold for lack of promising leads and detectives available to work on them,” said Deputy Chief Mark A. Kroeker. “Our clearance rate has been less than what we would have hoped for.”

The addition of FBI agents and the technical support that comes with them has given the department the ability to take a fresh look at many of those cases.

With three agents assigned to fugitive investigation, the homicide detectives were able to track down suspects who had fled the state and the country. “There are some advantages to having a nationwide operation,” said Charlie J. Parson, special agent in charge of the Los Angeles region.

Agents and detectives teamed up to locate Michael Anthony Leslie, who allegedly fled to Belize to avoid arrest in the Sept. 24, 1993, murder of Transito Velado. Police said Velado, a 30-year-old father of five, was killed when he accused Leslie of shooting his dog.

“We felt there was nothing we could do to get him back,” Robleto said. “We had no extradition treaty with Belize.”

But with the help of local politicians and the task force, Leslie was returned to the United States. A federal warrant was issued for his arrest, and the government cooperated in extraditing him to Los Angeles where he is in jail awaiting trial.

“We are very pleased with the results when you consider these are some of the toughest cases that have been sitting on the shelf for lack of manpower,” Parson said. “It’s remarkable.”

In another case, detectives arrested a suspect in the slaying of Denise Jones, who was shot June 13, 1994, near Wadsworth Avenue and 87th Street. Jones, 33, was shot after she testified against a gang member. The jury deadlocked on a verdict. Jones was scheduled to testify in a new trial when she was murdered.

Parson said the task force has managed to give hope to the families of victims.

“It’s not just the 33 murder victims,” he said. “It’s their wives, their children and their family members. Thirty-three is just a number, a statistic. It’s hard to capture the hope that it gives the victims’ families.

“Many of these cases didn’t receive a lot of publicity. If they did they were reported as just another homicide. But when you deal with the families, you realize that it’s more than just another death.”