Police Link 2 Women in Shooting

The mystery surrounding a wife’s alleged plot to kill her husband deepened Monday, and Los Angeles police said they have physical evidence linking the wife and her sister to the purported conspiracy.

The sisters, Lynette LaFontaine-Trujillo and Nicole Garza, remained in custody Monday. Police said the sisters were attempting to kill Deputy City Atty. Jose Garza, Nicole Garza’s husband, but that their plan went awry when Garza mistook his sister-in-law last week for a burglar.

Garza shot LaFontaine-Trujillo in an exchange of gunfire in his Sylmar garage late Wednesday, police said. While he was not injured, LaFontaine-Trujillo remained in the intensive care unit at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills suffering from a gunshot wound to her upper torso; a police officer is stationed outside her door.

Nicole Garza, who is also a licensed attorney, remained in Van Nuys Jail, where she has refused to speak to police without a lawyer present, authorities said.

Nonetheless, Lt. Joe Garcia of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Foothill Division said detectives have proof the sisters were plotting to kill Garza. Police conducted searches late Friday at both LaFontaine-Trujillo’s Sherman Oaks residence and Garza’s Sylmar home; Nicole Garza was arrested Friday night.

“We have physical evidence . . . that links the two people together to commit a conspiracy to murder,” Garcia said.

“It’s not one of our run-of-the-mill cases,” Garcia said. “It’s definitely different.”

Other officers and prosecutors agreed that the case is unusual and particularly sensitive, mostly because of Garza’s position.

“It’s sensitive and it’s interesting,” said Capt. Ronald Bergmann, who oversees the Foothill station. “There may be a few surprises to come.”

Jose Garza, who has worked for the city attorney’s San Fernando office since 1980, did not return telephone calls Monday and refused to speak to a reporter Sunday. He has not reported to work since the shooting but police said he has been cooperative with their investigation.

Residents in the Garzas’ Sylmar neighborhood said they saw the couple after the incident and that they always appeared happy together, taking walks with the couple’s three young children.

Secrecy surrounded the case for a third day. A judge sealed search warrants and arrest warrants at the request of police.

Detectives cited the orders in declining to elaborate on their investigation. But they said no more arrest warrants would be issued and that detectives still were sorting through material collected over the past few days in hopes of presenting their case to the district attorney’s office today.

“We’re trying to figure the motive still,” said Garcia. “The detectives have a mound of stuff to go through.”

Nicole Garza, who graduated in 1990 from Glendale University College of Law and was admitted to the bar later that year, had apparently worked at home for about the past year. Associate Dean Joy Strayer said she knew Garza as “a very good student.”

Prior to that, Garza worked at a Glendale law firm but an employee there who refused to be identified said the 32-year-old had been terminated.

Nicole Garza apparently represented Jose Garza in his divorce from a previous wife, according to court records. The divorce became final in 1992 with Jose Garza keeping his gun collection and Beverly Foster receiving a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and a pickup truck, the records showed.

Jose Garza, who handles criminal misdemeanor cases, was described by acquaintances as a well-liked attorney. He recently prosecuted one of the first cases under a new state law involving a person who shined a flashlight at a police helicopter.

He graduated from Loyola University Law School and was admitted to the bar in 1974, according to the State Bar of California.

With his wife, Nicole, Garza has three young children, along with adult children from a previous marriage.

According to police, the Garzas said they heard noises in their garage late Wednesday and Jose got up to investigate. He confronted LaFontaine-Trujillo in the garage, where they both fired weapons. Neighbors said they saw the Garzas together after the shooting.

Two days later, Nicole Garza was arrested at home.

“This is going to take some time to investigate thoroughly,” Garcia said. “We’re looking at all aspects of it.”