2 Men Charged in Shooting Deaths of Young Couple

Two men have been charged with murder in the 1998 slaying of a young couple who were shot while saying good night outside the boyfriend’s Harbor City condominium, authorities said Thursday.

Daniel Nunez, 22, and William Satele, 20, were in jail for possession of an illegal assault rifle when investigators linked the weapon to the killings.

Each man, allegedly affiliated with a Wilmington gang, has been charged with two counts of murder, officials said. They could face the death penalty if convicted of the double homicide.

The two men were arrested on suspicion of possessing the assault rifle within 28 hours of the Oct. 29 killings of Renesha Fuller, 21, and boyfriend Edward Robinson, 22, said Los Angeles Police Det. Bob Dinlocker. The firearm was found during a traffic stop in the Wilmington area, he said.

Nunez and Satele were in County Jail awaiting trial on the possession charge when investigators, using ballistics tests, matched the weapon--a Norinko assault rifle banned under state law--with spent casings from the scene of the slaying.

Authorities believe that the suspects did not know their victims, who were shot several times at close range.

“We don’t know if these guys were driving around looking for enemies, looking for rival gang members and just got bored and shot the couple,” Dinlocker said.

The case had baffled detectives. The victims had no criminal background or gang affiliations. They were not robbed, and none of their past relationships yielded any motive.

Fuller and Robinson had been dating about five months, their families said.

About 11:30 p.m. the day they were killed, Robinson was standing at Fuller’s car as she started the engine. They had spent most of the day together at Robinson’s condo on Frampton Avenue, near Pacific Coast Highway, said his sister, Bertha Robinson.

As he bent down to speak with Fuller, or perhaps kiss her good night, someone walked up from behind, police believe, and shot four rounds. The bullets passed through Robinson then killed Fuller, police said.

Fuller lived with her mother and stepfather, an Inglewood police officer, in Los Angeles. She was about to start a new job, her family said. Robinson worked with his father as a mason.