ROLLING HILLS ESTATES, CA — Murder charges were dismissed Monday against a 73-year-old man accused of orchestrating the execution-style killing of an attorney outside his Rolling Hills Estates home, after prosecutors said Montenegro's extradition decision prevented them from pursuing the counts.
Richard Wall Sr. remains charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the 2009 killing of attorney Jeffrey Tidus and the 2011 killing of former employee Juan Mendez, according to City News Service.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Louis Parise Jr. granted defense attorney Hagop Kuyumjian's request to dismiss the two murder counts and ordered Wall to remain jailed without bail pending arraignment Sept. 23 on the remaining conspiracy charges.
Deputy District Attorney Hilary Williams told the court the dismissal was not based on a lack of evidence or a determination that the murder charges were legally deficient.
Instead, prosecutors said authorities in Montenegro — where Wall had been living before his extradition — refused to extradite him on the murder charges because of concerns over the potential penalties attached to those counts.
Wall was charged in June with two counts each of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, along with special-circumstance allegations of multiple murders, lying in wait and murder for financial gain. The special-circumstance allegations could have resulted in a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Tidus, 53, was shot once in the head outside his Rolling Hills Estates home on Dec. 7, 2009, after stepping outside to retrieve a work laptop from his vehicle, according to investigators. He died the following day.
The Los Angeles Times described Tidus as a prominent civil attorney and former member of the State Bar of California's governing board. Prosecutors allege Wall arranged Tidus' killing after the attorney obtained a $1.7 million settlement in 2007 against a close friend of Wall. According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, an unnamed co-conspirator was hired to carry out the killing.
Wall is also accused of orchestrating the killing of Mendez, 35, a former employee of Wall's Whittier business, Welded Fixtures. Mendez had sued over unpaid overtime and was awarded $300,000, prosecutors said.
He was shot Feb. 26, 2011, after answering the door of his Whittier apartment. Prosecutors allege he was shot in front of his children and killed as he tried to flee. The judgment in his labor case had not been finalized, and the lawsuit was later dismissed, according to the District Attorney's Office.
When prosecutors announced the charges in June, District Attorney Nathan Hochman said Wall allegedly responded to legal defeats by targeting people involved in the cases rather than appealing the results. Wall was extradited from Montenegro on the conspiracy charges.
The District Attorney's Office has also said Wall is a suspect in a third killing in Las Vegas. The Los Angeles Times reported that case involves the 2008 killing of David James "DJ" Vargas. Wall has not been charged in that death.
Wall is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 23 in Department 30 of the Criminal Courts Building in downtown Los Angeles. The remaining conspiracy charges are allegations. Wall is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
City News Service contributed to this report.
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