Judge Denies Bail for Ex-CHP Officer

An Orange County judge on Tuesday ordered a former CHP officer held without bail on charges of orchestrating the 1989 murder of his business partner in several Los Angeles County strip clubs.

Michael Woods, a silver-haired nude-cabaret owner and part-time movie producer, did not enter a plea during a brief hearing in Santa Ana. But outside the courtroom, Woods’ lawyer insisted her client is innocent.

Defense attorney Vicki Podberesky questioned investigators’ dealings with two other suspects in the case, including the alleged triggerman, who recorded conversations in which Woods reportedly discussed the slaying.

“I think it’s always potentially unfair any time the district attorney sees fit to build a case on informant testimony,” Podberesky said.

Authorities contend that Woods paid his bodyguard $50,000 to arrange the ambush slaying of Horace J. McKenna, who was gunned down after arriving at his Brea hilltop ranch in a chauffeured limousine.

Woods was arrested Friday, 3 1/2 years after a district attorney investigator reopened the long-unsolved case. Podberesky said she will ask Judge Steven Perk to release her client on bail at a Nov. 21 court appearance.

Before bailiffs led Woods out of the courtroom, he nodded reassuringly at relatives, including his wife, Diane, who blew him a kiss.

Authorities allege that Woods wanted McKenna dead so he could take over the nude clubs both men operated.

Woods, 58, and his onetime bodyguard, David Amos, still own three of the clubs, Bare Elegance in Hawthorne, New Jet Strip in Lennox and Valley Ball Cabaret in the San Fernando Valley.

Amos, 41, allegedly paid a third man, John Patrick Sheridan, $25,000 to commit the March 9, 1989, slaying. Both Amos and Sheridan reportedly cooperated in the investigation of Woods, wearing wires while discussing McKenna’s killing with him. They are also held without bail.

Amos was co-star and Woods executive producer of a 1995 movie, “The Takeover,” in which crime families fought for control of cocaine trafficking and two Los Angeles strip clubs. They were each involved in the 1997 film, “Flipping,” also about a violent struggle for several L.A. clubs.