Man Wanted in Manhattan Slaying Caught in Gardena

One of New York’s 25 most wanted criminals was in a Los Angeles County jail Saturday in the 1986 slaying of his former girlfriend after police detectives from the two cities traced him to Gardena, where he was living under an assumed name.

Norman “Skip” Dennis, 48, had lived since the 1990s under an alias in the Gardena area, working as a self-employed carpenter, until detectives caught him outside an apartment complex Tuesday night, officials said Saturday.

Dennis, 48, is being held without bail pending extradition to New York state, where he is accused of gunning down Sharon Copeland, 25, behind a building in Manhattan.

His capture came after NYPD detectives contacted their Los Angeles Police Department cold-case counterparts with a tip that Dennis was living in the area under an assumed name.

With his new identity, Dennis had been careful to avoid leaving any kind of paper trail, detectives said.

“He paid for everything in cash. He didn’t have a driver’s license. He pretty much stayed off the radar,” said LAPD cold-case Det. Cliff Shepard, who made the arrest with his partner, Det. Jose Ramirez. “He didn’t draw attention to himself.”

But under his assumed name, Dennis was arrested five years ago for narcotics possession in the Los Angeles area, police said. An FBI database linked the fingerprints taken for the booking to Dennis. That work allowed NYPD detectives to trace his general location, police said.

Det. Stefano Braccini and his partner, Det. Dominic Andreno, flew to Los Angeles on Tuesday and spent several hours checking out three addresses, which their LAPD counterparts had help uncover. About 7:30 p.m., one of the NYPD detectives spotted the fugitive next to a car in the 1600 block of 147th Street, Shepard said.

Once in custody, Dennis admitted that he was the fugitive wanted for allegedly shooting Copeland in the head on March 26, 1986, in Lower Manhattan, police said. Copeland died of her injuries shortly after the shooting.

Witnesses identified Dennis as the alleged gunman seen fleeing the scene. After the shooting, according to police, Dennis may have lived in North Carolina before coming to California.

Shepard and Ramirez are the LAPD cold-case detectives who last October caught a man authorities describe as Los Angeles’ most prolific serial killer. Chester Turner is charged with multiple murders and is allegedly connected to a dozen slayings between 1987 and 1998.