Man Admitted Killing Couple, Detective Testifies at Hearing

Within hours of the Thanksgiving week killings, a Sylmar day laborer admitted to police he had fatally stabbed an elderly couple who owned a North Hollywood restaurant, a detective testified Thursday.

Israel Cebrera Pulido “told me that he was the one who hurt those people,” Los Angeles Police Det. Joe Esquivel testified at a preliminary hearing. “He said he killed them.”

Pulido, 23, had met the victims, Sabato and Eugenia Russo, both 73, when he helped refinish wooden floors in their North Hollywood home a few weeks earlier, according to court testimony.

The Russos, who owned Sabatino’s Italian Restaurant and Bakery, were killed in their home.

On Thursday, after hearing the evidence, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Lloyd M. Nash ordered Pulido to stand trial on two counts of murder with the special circumstances of robbery, burglary and multiple murders.

Prosecutors Kenneth M. Barshop and Paula Selesnick said the district attorney’s office had not decided whether to seek the death penalty.

At Thursday’s hearing, Esquivel recounted two police interviews with Pulido: The defendant at first said he was a witness to the crime, committed by an acquaintance named Miguel; then he admitted killing the couple.

Pulido’s attorney, John Ponist, questioned the circumstances surrounding his client’s alleged admission. During the first interview, Pulido told detectives he could not afford an attorney but did not specifically ask for one, the transcript shows.

According to Esquivel, Pulido told police he went to the house in the 6300 block of Bellaire Avenue on the morning before last Thanksgiving under the pretext of picking up leftover paint.

Eugenia Russo let Pulido into the living room, where he said he “held a knife to her throat and demanded money,” Esquivel testified.

“Eugenia told him there was gold in the safe but she didn’t know the combination,” Esquivel said, recounting Pulido’s alleged admission the day after the Nov. 22 killings.

In the master bedroom, Pulido “had her kneel down and attempt to open the [floor] safe.”

A few minutes later, Sabato Russo returned home from their North Hollywood restaurant and entered the bedroom. He lunged at Pulido, who stabbed him twice in the upper torso, Esquivel said Pulido told him.

“As he struggled with Sabato, Eugenia runs for the door,” Esquivel said. “When Sabato falls to the floor, [Pulido] runs after her and strikes the back of her head with a dowel, then strikes her two more times in the face.”

Esquivel said Pulido told him he was worried someone would hear the noises Eugenia was making, so he dragged her into the living room and “stabbed her three more times so she would die.”

Earlier, Pulido had told police a similar version of events but blamed the killings on “Miguel,” a man he said he met at a Sherman Oaks building supply store and accompanied to the Russo home, Esquivel said. He later said the man did not exist, the detective added.

Pulido also admitted he lied when he told police he killed the couple because he and his family were threatened by Latino gang members who wanted the Russos dead, Esquivel said.

The real motive, according to authorities, was to steal money to pay a $1,000 debt.

Besides the alleged admission, police said they found Eugenia Russo’s bracelet and money stolen from the home in Pulido’s pants pocket.