Toxicology Report Released in Deaths

Toxicology reports on the two teenage boys found bludgeoned to death in a La Crescenta schoolyard show neither had illicit drugs in his system, while one had a small amount of alcohol in his bloodstream, the coroner’s office said Tuesday.

Chris McCulloch, 13, had a blood-alcohol level of .02%, and Blaine Talmo Jr., 14, had traces of Sudafed, a nonprescription cold medicine, in his blood, said Scott Carrier of the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.

“It’s nothing,” Carrier said of Chris’ .02% alcohol level. “But it was present, in a kid that age.”

Michael Demirdjian, 15, has been charged as an adult with murder and robbery in the July 23 slayings. His attorney, Charles T. Mathews, said earlier this month that the boys were killed after a bout of heavy drinking and marijuana use, which made them drowsy.

Mathews, who maintained his client merely witnessed the killings by an adult acquaintance, said the coroner’s finding did not contradict his account.

“It is consistent with what my client said,” Mathews said. “The alcohol was relatively small compared to the marijuana they were imbibing. I don’t know if they tested for marijuana yet.”

But Carrier said toxicology tests found no sign of marijuana, and Mathews could not be reached for further comment.

One month after the killings, police on Tuesday remained tight-lipped about the case and refused to comment on their investigation.

Police initially said they were seeking additional suspects beyond Demirdjian in the case--and arrested a 19-year-old man on suspicion of murder. But the murder allegations against him were quickly dropped, and police subsequently imposed a news blackout in the case.

“No new arrests, no releases, no nothing,” Capt. Mike Post of the Glendale Police Department, who heads the investigation, said Tuesday.

Sgt. Rick Young, the department’s spokesman, sought to downplay concerns that another suspect in the case may be at large.

“We don’t believe the community is in any danger at this time,” Young said.

The bodies of Talmo and McCulloch were found in a secluded playground at Valley View Elementary School by a neighbor watering his lawn on a Sunday evening.

At a hearing on July 26, prosecutors said Demirdjian, who lives near the school, robbed and tortured the victims before he beat them nearly beyond recognition.

The blood-flecked play equipment where the killings occurred has been removed, said Vic Pallos, spokesman for the Glendale Unified School District.

The area has been repaved, and new equipment has been ordered.

A preliminary hearing for Demirdjian is scheduled for Sept. 20.