L.A. Man a Suspect in 4 Slayings in 2 Countries
BY ANDREW BLANKSTEIN
OCT. 16, 2003
TIMES STAFF WRITER
A man who allegedly shot and killed two Tijuana police officers last weekend is suspected of carrying out a double slaying two months ago at a North Hollywood recording studio, Los Angeles police detectives said Wednesday.
The bodies of Devin Lesser, 38, and Rosaura Amy Bone, 18, were found Aug. 7 in a warehouse near makeshift living quarters rented by Lesser in the 5500 block of Riverton Avenue.
Detectives initially had few clues, no suspects and no motive. But soon their attention turned to L.A. resident Juan Frank Munoz, 24, who had dated Bone and threatened violence against her, Det. Mike Coffey said.
Munoz didn’t wait for police to catch up with him, allegedly telling relatives “he had done something bad and needed to get out of town,” Coffey said. Lying low, he settled into a Tijuana motel, Coffey said.
The San Diego County district attorney’s office, often the liaison between Tijuana and California authorities, called North Hollywood homicide detectives Monday, saying Munoz had been arrested in the slayings of two Mexican police officers.
According to Coffey, police had gone to the motel after Munoz got into a loud argument with a girlfriend and allegedly pulled a gun on a security guard who went to Munoz’s room to investigate.
Two officers responding to a call for help were allegedly shot at point-blank range by Munoz, before he took their service weapons and fired on them again, authorities said.
Munoz was captured after a brief pursuit when he fled in the police patrol car. He will be tried in Mexico for the killing of the police officers and faces a maximum of 60 years to life in prison if convicted.
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