Man sentenced to life in prison in double-murder case
Inglewood insurance office
TORRANCE, Calif.—A man was sentenced today to a pair of life prison terms without the possibility of parole for the murders of two people inside an Inglewood insurance office more than five years ago.
Torrance Superior Court Judge Steven Van Sicklen also tacked on another life term plus 74 years and four months for Julius Laulu, according to Deputy District Attorney Greta Walker.
Laulu, 29, was convicted along with co-defendant Osman Canales, 31, of first-degree murder and other charges stemming from the Sept. 26, 2007, slayings of Lorena Rodriguez, 48, of Hawthorne, and Joel Cruz Perez, 51, of Los Angeles.
Rodriguez was kidnapped, taken to a bank and ordered to empty her account before being brought back to the business at 415 W. Manchester Blvd., where she and Perez both had their throats slit with a kitchen knife, according to Walker.
Authorities believe the crimes may have been motivated by Canales being upset over a business transaction with Rodriguez, who rented out space in the office for her real estate business, according to the prosecutor.
Last month, jurors recommended a death sentence for Canales, who is set to be formally sentenced Jan. 4.
A third defendant, Juan Pablo Maldonado, 22, will be sentenced on Jan. 16 to 26 years in state prison on his plea to lesser charges, including involuntary manslaughter.
INGLEWOOD, Calif.—A boy in a stolen car led officers through Inglewood and other South Bay cities today in a meandering two-hour pursuit during which he crashed into a police cruiser, then drove over some spike strips and was arrested, police said.
The pursuit started at Manchester and La Cienega Boulevards in Inglewood at 11:06 p.m., when officers attempted to stop a gold Toyota Camry stolen in Inglewood and the driver refused to pull over, said Inglewood police Sgt. Brian Hand.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Los Angeles County probation officers asked for help today in finding a parolee who threatened to kill school children.
Frank Edward Edmonds, 40, who authorities consider “extremely violent and an imminent public threat,” may be in Compton, South Los Angeles or Inglewood, his last known address.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Authorities today identified a man who was fatally shot by Inglewood police after he allegedly smashed the windows of eight squad cars with a sword in a police station parking lot.
The shooting occurred Saturday night, after the man damaged the vehicles using a sword that was thicker and heavier than a machete, police said. The dead man was identified as Charles Curl, 46, of Los Angeles, coroner’s Assistant Chief Ed Winter said.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — A grand jury indictment unsealed today charges a man with murdering two women and one man and injuring two other people during a shooting spree last October at a business and a home in Downey.
Jade Douglas Harris, 30, pleaded not guilty in Los Angeles Superior Court to 10 felony counts, including three counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder, four counts of kidnapping for carjacking and one count of being a felon with a firearm.
The Crenshaw Subway Coalition is gearing up for a possible showdown over additional funding for the Crenshaw-to-LAX light rail line, including a Leimert Park Village Station, but may have to await a May 23 decision by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board on just how bruising—or necessary—a showdown will be.
