4 face murder charges in 2 Lancaster slayings

The mystery began in July 2006 when a prominent Beverly Hills plastic surgeon was gunned down on his rugged 200-acre Lancaster ranch, where he grew olives, pistachios and other produce from his native Iran.

For months, detectives were stumped, saying they could not figure out who would want to kill Dr. Esfandiar “Steve” Kadivar.

Then last spring, the man who had leased the property from Kadivar’s family, Efrain Martines, was found shot to death a few miles away in the bed of his pickup truck.

On Tuesday, Los Angeles County prosecutors said both homicides were part of an elaborate murder-for-hire scheme that had been orchestrated by the ranch’s longtime caretaker. Four men are charged with two murders.

Authorities contend that the caretaker hired two men to kill Kadivar, 64, and a third man to kill Martines.

Detectives are still searching for a large quantity of gold Iranian coins that disappeared from Kadivar’s safe after he was slain.

Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Blake said the alleged mastermind, Nicolas Olvera Cordoba, 56, orchestrated the slayings so that he could control the ranch himself.

“He promised a large sum of money for the doctor’s killing to two men and thousands of dollars for Martines’ killing,” Blake said.

Cordoba’s three alleged accomplices -- Antonio Martinez, Arturo Verdin and Marco Garcia -- allegedly shot Martines in the bed of his pickup April 28 and then dumped the truck by the roadside several miles away in Lake Los Angeles, Blake said. Martines’ body was found May 3.

Blake said it took time to connect the death to the ranch.

“But the connection began to become clear when you see some individuals showing up as connected to the victims in both murders,” Blake said. The Sheriff’s Department detectives -- John Corina and Gary Sica -- “did an incredible job here of piecing together two complex murders.”

Prosecutors allege that Cordoba first hired Martinez, a close friend, and Verdin to kill the well-liked doctor, who practiced for years at a Lancaster hospital. Cordoba allegedly told them where to find the surgeon, who lived in Beverly Hills but spent a lot of time at his ranch.

Blake alleged that Cordoba was desperate to run the ranch after the doctor’s death. Cordoba brought Martines in to lease the ranch from the doctor’s family. But it didn’t take long for Martines and Cordoba to start bickering, authorities said. So Cordoba allegedly hired Garcia to kill Martines.

Cordoba, Martinez and Verdin were charged Tuesday with murder in the surgeon’s death. They along with Garcia already had been charged with Martines’ killing.

Prosecutors have filed special circumstance allegations of financial gain and murder while lying in wait, which could mean the death penalty for the men.

Cordoba, Martinez and Verdin also face a special circumstance allegation of multiple murders. Prosecutors have not yet decided if they will seek the death penalty.

“I don’t think [Cordoba] expected to own the property,” Blake said. “But he wanted to fully control it. It is a very viable and desirable ranch.”

Family members said Kadivar cherished the ranch. There Kadivar tended his varied crops, cattle and goats -- labors that recalled his youth spent growing up on a farm in his native Iran.

“When he came to look at this area, it reminded him of where he was raised,” his wife, Parvaneh Kadivar, told The Times last year. “He loved the animals. He loved the trees. He loved picking the fruit and vegetables that he grew.”

Family and friends said Kadivar would remark how the ranch was similar to the pistachio farm that he and his father owned in Iran before he moved to the United States.

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richard.winton@latimes.com

andrew.blankstein@latimes.com