Suspect Named in Slaying of Burglary Case Witness

Police have identified a suspect in last week’s slaying of a man who was allegedly killed to keep him from testifying in a burglary case later this month.

Randall Bruce Williams, 34, is suspected of shooting to death Jamie Edward Navaroli, 36, and seriously injuring Navaroli’s girlfriend in a Nov. 4 ambush outside the couple’s Ingomar Street home, Los Angeles police said.

Navaroli had been placed in a witness protection program after receiving death threats for his expected testimony in a case involving commercial burglaries in the West Valley.

Williams was a suspect in the burglaries but was never charged, said Det. Rick Swanston of the LAPD’s West Valley Division.

The man who was charged with the crimes, Kenneth Leighton, is a close friend of Williams, police said, and was also charged with intimidating Navaroli.

Swanston said Leighton has not been eliminated as a possible co-conspirator in Navaroli’s killing. Leighton, who pleaded not guilty to both charges and is free on bail, could not be reached for comment.

His lawyer, Ron Lewis, denied that Leighton threatened Navaroli and that he was friends with Williams.

Detectives are asking for the public’s help in locating Williams.