The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • 74

ortArJGS county Tuesday, December 13, 1988 Part II 3 Coa Angclco Slmes SIMILARITIES OF 16 MULDERS IN RANDY KRAFT CASE Judge Asked to Acquit Kraft on 14 of 16 Murder Charges This chart, prepared by the Orange County district attorney's office, shows similarities in circumstances of the 16 Orange County murders charged to Randy Steven Kraft. Viewed together, they portray the defendant's method of operation, prosecutors say. Kraft's attorneys acknowledge some similiarities but insist that there are also numerous differences among the murder victims. Shaded boxes indicate which murder victims fit into various categories. White spaces indicate that the victim did not fall into that category.

i. ifli-ifi" 1 I ft LJ r-i crP Nelson and DeVaul deaths include legitimate issues to present to a jury. But the Kraft attorneys are asking Judge McCartin to drop the DeVaul murder charge for another reason: His body was found in Los Angeles County, and the defense claims that there is no evidence he was killed in Orange County's jurisdiction. Kraft attorney Kopeny has divided the rest of the sought-after acquittals into two categories: Five murders in which the prosecution has linked Kraft to the victims but failed to prove Kraft killed them, according to Kopeny. The links include personal items of the victims found at Kraft's home, pictures of one of the victims in death and Kraft's fingerprints at one crime scene.

Eight murders in which the defense claims that there are no links to Kraft. It is these eight murders, Kopeny said, where the defense believes that it has its strongest argument. "The prosecution has introduced absolutely no evidence to link Randy Kraft to the victims in this group," Kopeny argued in his court papers Monday. In a telephone interview, Kopeny added: "In one of the murders Ronnie G. Wiebe, the prosecution put on its entire case in less than an hour." Kopeny added: "The prosecution's case is a seamless web, where everything in it depends on everything else.

If you take away some of the parts, you can see there are holes in the prosecution's case." But prosecutors disagree that any of their 16 murder counts is weak. Please see KRAFT, Page 5 By JERRY HICKS, Times Staff Writer Attorneys for Randy Steven Kraft, on trial in the murder of 16 young men in Orange County, asked the trial judge Monday to acquit him of 14 of the murders while conceding that the jury should consider the others. "We're not conceding guilt on those two, but we are admitting that they include evidence for a jury to decide," said Kraft attorney William J. Kopeny. "The defendant continues to maintain his innocence on all counts related to all 16 victims." Superior Court Judge Donald A.

McCartin has scheduled a hearing on the defense request for this morning in Santa Ana. Prosecution Concluded Case The prosecution recently concluded its case against Kraft, and Judge McCartin has granted the Kraft attorneys a trial recess until Jan. 9, when the defense will begin presenting its case. Kraft, now 43, was arrested on May 14, 1983, when two California Highway Patrol officers who stopped him along Interstate 5 in Mission Viejo found a dead Marine in his car. Since then prosecutors have claimed to the court that Kraft is responsible for 45 murders in Southern California, Oregon and Michigan.

The trial, which began last July, could take nearly a year to complete and is expected to be the most expensive trial in county history. If Kraft is convicted on more than one of the 16 murders, his trial will move into a penalty phase, during which prosecutors will introduce evidence of many of the Loa Angeles Timet Randy Steven Kraft during the first day of his murder trial. other killings in an attempt to win a death sentence. Of the two counts that the defense agrees should be decided by a jury, one involves the murder of the Marine found in Kraft's car, 25-year-old Terry Lee Gambrel, and the other involves Geoffrey Alan Nelson, 18, of Buena Park. Victims Seen Together Nelson and Rodger James De-Vaul 20, were last seen together on the night of Feb.

11, 1983. Nelson's body was found early the next morning and DeVaul's the next day. Pictures of DeVaul, clad in a jacket he had borrowed to wear that night, were found in Kraft's car. In the photos, an abrasion is visible on. DeVaul's neck.

The defense agrees that the 3 00 eg (A 2 LEAVETT BILES Los Angeles Times Coast Guard to Wait on Boat Crackdown imjm- VIA Jf Terry Lee Gambrel Geoffrey A. Nelson I Rodger J. DeVaul Jr. Eric H. Church Robert W.

Loggins Donald H. Crisl Michael J. Interbieten Keith A. Klingbeil Richard A. Keith Roland G.

Young Scott M. Hughes Mark H. Hall Keith D. Crotwell Ronnie G. Wiebe John Doe.

H. B. Edward D. Moore Ratings Dispute KDOC-TV Settles With Ex-Worker By ERIC LICHTBLAU, Times Staff Writer Orange County's only commercial television station agreed on Monday to pay a former account executive an undisclosed sum to settle her allegations that she was forced to leave the station for fighting its doctoring of TV ratings. Representatives of both Anaheim-based KDOC-TV56 and Linda Ford, the former account executive, refused to disclose terms of the settlement, citing a Superior Court judge's order of confidentiality.

The settlement is the latest of several that the station has been forced to make in recent years to resolve employee claims of kickbacks, doctored ratings and sexual harassment by management. Claimed Sexual Advances Ford herself was at center stage last year in one of those actions. In a suit filed by a fellow employee, advertising salesman Steve Con-obre, Ford testified that station talk-show host Wally George had made persistent sexual advances toward her. Ford is married. George denied Ford's allegations, saying that Ford was the aggressor.

(Conobre, who alleged he had been fired for opposing the alleged sexual harassment and for refusing to use phony TV ratings to sell ads, won a $256,000 jury award, which KDOC is appealing.) In filing her own suit more than 2 years ago, Ford had sought $2.7 million in damages from the station Please see KDOC, Page 5 By MARK LANDSBAUM, Times The Coast Guard has agreed not to enforce a commercial charter boat regulation that boosters of the Newport Beach Festival of Lights boat parade predicted would have ruined the annual event, Rep. Robert E. Badham said Monday. The boating festivities will begin Saturday and last until Dec. 23, after which the Coast Guard will proceed with a crackdown on what they consider to be charter boats operating without proper certification and inspection, Coast Guard Capt.

Terry Lucas said. "We are not going to be interfering with that parade," Lucas said Monday. "Afterward, we are going to enforce the rules, but we have an education job to do first. Education Comes First "We've got to get out and educate the people who do the charters and let them know what the rules are. And then we have to start enforcing it." Lucas said if the Coast Guard did not enforce the regulation, that would create unfair competition for certified charter operators who are following the rules.

The crackdown begun recently is based on a new interpretation of a Coast Guard regulation that requires inspection and certification of yachts leased by individuals or companies that take groups of passengers on excursions. The practice is common during the Newport Beach Festival of Lights, when private yacht owners, usually for a fee, turn their boats over to companies that use the vessels to hold Christmas parties. The Coast Guard's new interpretation of federal boating regulations will be that commercial use includes a boat used for any business-related purpose, Coast Guard JACKE CRUMP Los Angeles Times Goose keeps beady eye on Tim Campbell, Downey, enjoying picnic weather in Placentia park. This Forecast May Come as a Bitter Blow Staff Writer Lt. John Sarubbi said.

If a company president takes clients or employees on his own boat or rents a boat for them, the boat will be considered commercially chartered and must meet design and safety standards. Badham (R-Newport Beach) announced Monday that Coast Guard Adm. Paul Yost assured him that the regulation would not yet be enforced and "that Orange County would not suffer the demise of the Newport Harbor Festival of Lights Christmas boat parade." 'Worked Out in Courts' "I'm extremely pleased with the decision by the Coast Guard," Badham "I still think there are some problems with their interpretation of the law, but that will be worked out next year in the courts." Badham criticized the Coast Guard regulation, saying it is not worth the cost to owners to upgrade their yachts to meet stringent requirements solely for the boat to be used in the parade. However, Eric Scharf, executive director of National Assn. of Passenger Vessel Owners, a Washington-based organization of certificated charter boat owners, said his group wholeheartedly supports the Coast Guard's effort.

"Our association has been urging the Coast Guard to be more diligent in enforcing the regulations because of the competition these illegal vessels pose to our members," Scharf said. "There's no assurance these uncertificated boats are safe operations or operating in a safe and legal manner. "In the long run, we know our position will be upheld by the Coast Guard and any court that looks at it." SANTIAGO CYN RD But some of the changes may be out of his control. Eventually, the Please see BAR, Page 12 BIB LIVE OAK CYN RD IRNEW jiNTimco P- Canyon wis) t' rVi Santa Margarita ujC Coto PI 1 1 iAr tlLfauiM Cata By MARCIDA DODSON, Times Staff Writer Hold on to your contact lenses, the Santa Anas are going to blow again. The winds are expected Thursday and "could possibly be as strong as last week's," said Janice Roth, a meteorologist at WeatherData, which provides forecasts for The Times.

The winds could average 15 to 30 m.p.h. with higher gusts, potentially up to 50 m.p.h., especially below canyons and passes, she said. They are expected to slacken by Friday afternoon, Roth said. "But it's a little early to be real specific," Roth said. Today's high temperatures are expected to reach the upper 60s and lower 70s under mostly clear skies.

On Wednesday, the highs are expected to be in the mid- to upper 60s along the coast and in the mid-70s inland. Those cooler temperatures "will help counteract" the hot air that the Santa Ana winds usually blow through Orange County, Roth said. Temperatures Thursday and Friday could be in the 70s, with some areas reaching the lower 80s, she said. Santa Ana winds result when a strong high pressure system settles over the Los Angeles basin, and north to northeast winds swirl in from the deserts to the coastal areas, she said. New Cook's Corner Is Around the Bend li ii i.ww.uim..l..i.aii.y wi ail I jlifsirW" 4 X.

Hr-ir-iTi ii I Mi-. i urn i uaki I Tj By MARCIDA DODSON, Times Staff Writer Cook's Corner is now somebody else's. The venerable canyon tavern, a watering hole for canyon dwellers, bikers and yuppies alike, has been sold. And those who like their landmarks to stay the same can relax. A little.

The new owner, Frank de Luna, said Monday that he plans to keep the 42-year-old bar and grill pretty much the same, although he does plan to "improve it" by expanding the lunch menu, repainting the old sign and possibly turning it into a country-Western music hall eventually. And then there's the commercial center he'd like to build right behind it. Cook's Corner will get a bigger lunch menu and an improved DON TORMEY La Angela Timet sign, and maybe someday be turned into a country music hall..