South Bay : Officer’s Alleged Killer Guilty in Oregon Case

A 29-year-old man accused of fatally shooting a Manhattan Beach police officer two years ago was convicted Friday of killing a 55-year-old Oregon nurse with the same gun believed to have been used against the patrolman.

A Hillsboro, Ore., jury took eight hours to convict Roger Hoan Brady in the 1994 shooting death of Catalina Correa during a robbery outside a supermarket in the Portland suburb of Cedar Mill.

Brady must now be sentenced for the murder before being transferred to Los Angeles County to stand trial for the December, 1993, slaying of Officer Martin Ganz. If convicted in the Ganz case, Brady could be sentenced to death.

He could also get a death sentence in the Oregon trial. Jury deliberations in the penalty phase begin Tuesday.

Brady allegedly gunned down Ganz, 29, in the Manhattan Village mall parking lot. Ganz’s 14-year-old nephew, who was on a ride-along at the time, called for help. Police say Brady opened fire from his car with a .380-caliber semiautomatic pistol after Ganz pulled him over on a traffic stop.

Eight months later, police say, Brady used the same gun to kill Correa.

Brady was convicted on two counts of aggravated murder for shooting Correa and two counts of attempted aggravated murder for firing an assault rifle at a witness who chased Brady’s car after the robbery. He was also found guilty on the robbery charge.

The verdict means that the gun can now be used as evidence against Brady when he is prosecuted in Torrance Superior Court for Ganz’s death.