Richard Wall Sr., 73, was extradited from Montenegro and charged with four counts tied to execution-style killings in Southern California, including the 2009 murder of attorney Jeffrey Tidus in Rolling Hills Estates and the 2011 killing of former employee Juan
Richard Wall Sr. walked back into the court system after years of flight, booked into Los Angeles County’s Men’s Central Jail on Friday and set to face charges that prosecutors say connect to execution-style killings across Southern California.
Wall. 73. was charged with two counts each of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. with special circumstance allegations of multiple murders. lying in wait and murder for financial gain. according to a Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office news release. The charges also include allegations tied to a third killing in Las Vegas. though prosecutors said he has not been charged in that case.
His appearance in court Monday set the next step: he is scheduled to be arraigned July 1, officials said.
In the Los Angeles County case, prosecutors allege Wall’s alleged violence grew out of conflict in the courtroom. “When Richard Wall Senior lost lawsuits. instead of appealing the verdicts. he allegedly decided to kill those who opposed him in court. ” Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman said in the release. “These were vicious and callous murders that we believe came at the behest of Mr. Wall who thought killing two people would end his legal problems. Such allegedly ruthless decision-making has landed Mr. Wall in far worse shape now.”.
The first killing prosecutors point to happened in Rolling Hills Estates in 2009. Jeffrey Tidus, 53, was an attorney who prosecutors said won a $1.7 million settlement against a close friend of Wall in 2007. The criminal complaint, as described in the release, says Wall hired a co-conspirator to kill Tidus in 2009 outside his home.
The second killing prosecutors allege occurred in Whittier in 2011. Juan Mendez. 35. worked for Wall and. prosecutors said. was awarded $300. 000 in a January 2011 lawsuit alleging he wasn’t paid overtime for his work. The release says Wall hired a co-conspirator to kill Mendez in February 2011. Prosecutors said the co-conspirator shot and killed Mendez outside his Whittier apartment in front of his children. They also said Mendez’s lawsuit was dismissed in March 2011 before it was finalized.
Wall was extradited from Montenegro, where he had fled and lived during the investigation, authorities said. If convicted, Wall faces life in prison.
The case also reaches beyond Southern California. Prosecutors said Wall is a suspect in a third Las Vegas killing from a few years earlier, but has not been charged there.
Las Vegas authorities told investigators about the death of David James “DJ” Vargas. On May 20, 2008, a relative found Vargas’ body inside his home a little more than a mile from the Las Vegas Strip. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Det. Clifford Mogg said Vargas may have been dead for one or two days.
Vargas, 53, was self-employed. According to Mogg, he had been trying to start an escort and limo service and owed Wall at least $100,000. Mogg said the two men had a falling out over the debt, and added that there were similarities between Vargas’ death and the two killings that followed.
The thread prosecutors describe is stark: two deaths. each tied to a legal dispute and each carried out with the involvement of a co-conspirator. as Wall allegedly attempted to end problems he faced in court. Now he is back under American custody. with the next milestone set for arraignment on July 1 and a set of charges that carry the possibility of life in prison.
Richard Wall Sr. extradited Montenegro Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman murder charges conspiracy to commit murder Rolling Hills Estates Jeffrey Tidus Whittier Juan Mendez Men’s Central Jail Las Vegas DJ Vargas life in prison