Erik Poltorak: Murder Charges Filed Against Allen Edward Williams, 3 Others
Erik Poltorak, a man found dead on his front porch in the Fairfax District in a shocking case earlier this month, was murdered by four people who were arraigned today, prosecutors say.
roleplayfashion.com / Facebook Poltorak.
The suspected hit was allegedly related to Poltorak's testimony in a robbery case, according to court documents: The defendants were accused of "lying in wait."
The four were ID'd as ...
... Allen Edward Williams, 23, Michael Thomas, 47, Yvonne DeCarlos Keith, 49, and Jessicha Tomasina Thomas, 20. The case was filed Nov. 7.
All four were each charged with one count of murder, D.A.'s spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons told the Weekly. Additionally Thomas was charged with "being accessory after the fact," she said.
The criminal complaint alleges Williams used a shotgun to carry out the murder with the help of the co-defendants.
The complaint states that Poltorak ...
... was a witness to a crime and was intentionally killed because of that fact.
Prosecutors also allege that ...
... a felony, in violation of Section 187 of the Penal Code of the State of California had been committed by Allen Williams, Michael Thomas, & Yvonne Keith, did harbor, conceal, and aid said Jessicha Thomas, with the intent that he/she might avoid and escape from arrest, trial, conviction, and punishment for said felony.
Thomas is said to have a lengthy rap sheet that includes robbery. Keith was also convicted of robbery.
It wasn't immediately clear if pleas were entered today. The first three defendants were being held without bail. Thomas was jailed in lieu of half a million bail.
Because of the alleged "special circumstance" of lying in wait, all four could be eligible for the death penalty, according to the complaint.
A source told us Poltorak had been robbed last year and testified against the suspect.
The 42-year-old helped to run a fetish clothing company, Roleplayfashion.com, apparently out of the home where he was murdered.
He also worked for and was an expert on author Zecharia Sitchin, famous for theorizing that space aliens came to earth centuries ago and created humanity.
On the morning of Nov. 1 Poltorak was apparently found dead on his Laurel Avenue doorstep by a woman who helped him with the clothing enterprise.
[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]
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