Manslaughter Plea Closes 1981 Case

Putting a 19-year-old murder case to rest, a notorious serial rapist and convicted killer pleaded no contest Wednesday to manslaughter charges for the slaying of a Sherman Oaks woman.

Edward Perreira, 46, agreed to seven additional years in prison for killing Beth Field Silver, a 25-year-old newlywed whom he raped, robbed and shot at her home in 1981, prosecutors said.

It was largely a symbolic punishment because the Brooklyn native is already serving a 171-year prison term for the 1995 murder of a Redwood City woman.

Prosecutors offered the deal because the case’s age made it difficult to bring to trial. Witnesses have died, and some evidence was inadvertently destroyed, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Jeffrey Boxer. L.A. County Superior Court Judge Sandy Kriegler also expressed concern about the defendant’s due process rights and ability to get a fair trial.

“The passage of time doesn’t do the prosecution any good,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Bob Cohen.

Silver’s parents expressed relief that their daughter’s killer was finally brought to justice.

“I and our family want to thank the D.A., Gil Garcetti, for allowing this case to go forward,” said Silver’s father, George Field, of Malibu.

The district attorney’s office was initially reluctant to bring charges against Perreira. Charges had been erroneously filed against another man who was later acquitted by a jury in 1983, and the evidence linking Perreira was largely circumstantial.

But because of new evidence uncovered by LAPD Det. Dan DeJarnette, as well renewed interest in the case, charges were subsequently filed in 1996.

Perreira, who served time for a string of other robberies and rapes committed under the aliases Michael Flores, Edward Caruso and Edward Carino, is scheduled to be sentenced on July 27.

“It’s been a long time, and justice is finally served,” said LAPD Det. Roberta Moore, who has worked on the case since 1993.