4 Charged in 1993 Torture-Killing of Teen

SANTA ANA — Four men have been indicted on torture and murder charges by the Orange County Grand Jury in connection with the 1993 slaying of a Buena Park teen, officials said Thursday.

The four men--including two arrested in La Palma this week--are suspects in the death of Carlos Salanova, a former John F. Kennedy High School student who was bound, gagged, beaten and hanged by the neck before being dumped into Cerritos Channel.

Michael Ligor, 22, and Rami Sabbara, 20, both of La Palma, were arrested Tuesday at their homes after the indictment was handed down, according to La Palma Police Capt. Vince Giampa. Both were being held Thursday without bail at Orange County Jail.

Also indicted were Christopher David Scott, 21, of Buena Park and Gregory Jason “Jake” Chandler, 22, court records show. Scott was arrested in May and, a few days later, Chandler was arrested while at the California Youth Authority on an unrelated assault charge.

Torture is among the special circumstances that can raise murder charges to a capital case level, meaning some or all of the defendants could face the death penalty if convicted.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Molko said Thursday that his office would seek life sentences without parole for Chandler and Scott. A decision on seeking the death penalty on the other two defendants would be made soon.

A fifth man, Shane Patrick Perry, 20, of La Palma, also surrendered to authorities in May in connection with the crime, Giampa said. Perry, a juvenile at the time of the crime, was not indicted with the others and might not be charged, officials said.

The flurry of arrests this year followed three years of stagnant leads and few clues in the mysterious slaying, police said.

The Salanova case was reopened early this year, and Det. Jim Enright, one of only four La Palma police detectives, was assigned full time to jump-start the cold investigation. New leads and reexamination of old clues soon led to a break in the case, Giampa said.

Police now believe that Scott took Salanova to a “drug party” in La Palma where a dozen or more teens were gathered. The attackers then allegedly drew a gun on the teen before gagging and binding him with duct tape, Giampa said.

Salanova, whose body was discovered in a waterway leading into Long Beach Harbor, was hanged and had his throat slashed before his killers tossed his body into Cerritos Channel on March 1, 1993. Nine days later, the body--with a rope still around the throat--was fished from Long Beach Harbor.

Police have not released a suspected motive for the slaying, nor have they speculated about the relationship between Salanova and his alleged attackers.

No more arrests are anticipated in the case, Giampa said Thursday. “We have everyone we believe was involved,” he said.

Both Scott and Chandler had been indicted earlier but were reindicted this week along with their suspected accomplices, according to Molko. The defendants are scheduled to appear in court again Aug. 28.

Giampa said the slaying was one of only two unsolved murders in recent decades in the small city that averages one homicide per year. The other dates back to 1974.