The Los Angeles Times . Los Angeles, Calif.: Mar 3, 1981.
Copyright, The Times Mirror Company; Los Angeles Times 1990all Rights reserved)
by Bill Farr, Times Staff Writer
The district attorney's office dropped murder charges Monday against a 27-year-old Sun Valley man accused of knifing his mother and father to death in their Agoura home more than three years ago.
On the motion of Deputy Dist. Atty. Bob Cohen, Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Armand Arabian dismissed the case against Miroslav Kefurt, Jr.
Kefurt has been free on $30,000 bail. After the court proceeding, Kefurt's defense attorney, Robert Sheahen, said:
"Judge Arabian is a courageous judge and Mr. Cohen is a gutsy prosecutor. Mr. Kefurt's vindication is a tribute to our system of justice."
Decision Made
After a series of delays prompted by appeals to higher courts, Kefurt was brought to trial last November, but it ended in a mistrial in January with the jury "hung" at 10 to 2 for acquittal.
Cohen said the district attorney's office decided against a second trial because "there was little likelihood of anything better than another hung jury, no matter how many times we tried the case."
However, the blond, bespectacled auto repairman testified that he had killed his 66-year-old father, Miroslav Sr., during a struggle after he saw that the elder Kefurt had stabbed his wife, Helen, 51.
The son insisted that he was trying to come to the aid of his mother and had to kill his father in self-defense.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
Copyright, The Times Mirror Company; Los Angeles Times 1990all Rights reserved)
by Bill Farr, Times Staff Writer
The district attorney's office dropped murder charges Monday against a 27-year-old Sun Valley man accused of knifing his mother and father to death in their Agoura home more than three years ago.
On the motion of Deputy Dist. Atty. Bob Cohen, Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Armand Arabian dismissed the case against Miroslav Kefurt, Jr.
Kefurt has been free on $30,000 bail. After the court proceeding, Kefurt's defense attorney, Robert Sheahen, said:
"Judge Arabian is a courageous judge and Mr. Cohen is a gutsy prosecutor. Mr. Kefurt's vindication is a tribute to our system of justice."
Decision Made
After a series of delays prompted by appeals to higher courts, Kefurt was brought to trial last November, but it ended in a mistrial in January with the jury "hung" at 10 to 2 for acquittal.
Cohen said the district attorney's office decided against a second trial because "there was little likelihood of anything better than another hung jury, no matter how many times we tried the case."
However, the blond, bespectacled auto repairman testified that he had killed his 66-year-old father, Miroslav Sr., during a struggle after he saw that the elder Kefurt had stabbed his wife, Helen, 51.
The son insisted that he was trying to come to the aid of his mother and had to kill his father in self-defense.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
RSS Feed
