Man Convicted in Cold Case Studio City Murder from 1994

May 15, 2012

A gang member linked through DNA to the 1994 cold-case murder of a Studio City man and the attempted murder of the man’s wife was convicted late
Monday, the District Attorney’s Office announced.

Deputy District Daniel Akemon of the Hardcore Gang Division said jurors deliberated for two days before convicting , 36, of the first-degree murder of, 73, with the special circumstance allegations that the murder was committed during the course of a burglary and robbery. 

Jurors also convicted Smith of the willful, deliberate and premeditated attempted murder of Thompson’s wife, then 69, and found true an allegation of great bodily injury. The jury additionally found true, as to both victims, gun use allegations. 

Judge Joseph Brandolino, who presided over the nine-day trial, said Smith is expected to be sentenced on June 27 in Department F of Van Nuys Superior Court. Smith faces life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder, plus one life term for the attempted murder. 

On Jan. 26, 1994, Smith, armed with a .380 caliber handgun, broke into the Thompson’s home at 1 a.m. During the burglary, Smith entered the victims’ bedroom and shot the wife in the chest. He then went on to shoot the husband in the chest and strike him more than a dozen times over the head with the gun.

Smith, a Rolling 20s gang member whose moniker is “Jazzy,” ransacked the home and fled with a typewriter and jewelry. 

Rudy Thompson crawled out of the house to summon help for his wife before he died on the front lawn of their home. His wife, now 87, survived the attack. 

The case remained unsolved until 2010 when DNA – recovered from two blood stains left at the crime scene – was matched to Smith through CODIS, the state DNA database. At the time of the “cold hit,” Smith was serving a prison sentence in Mississippi on an unrelated drug sales charge.

The case was investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department.