Dying Van Nuys Man Named His Killer, Prosecutor Says

The victim of an execution-style murder managed to crawl to his apartment manager’s office and name his attacker moments before he died, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

Manuel Abreu, 32, told manager Gloria Mendez that “Danny did it,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Susan M. Speer said during opening statements in Van Nuys Superior Court. Speer said Mendez knew “Danny” to be Bertulfo Marin Loaiza, whose trial on two counts of first-degree murder began this week.

Loaiza, 32, is charged with killing Abreu and Javier Restropo, 26, on Aug. 13, 1987, in Abreu’s apartment in the 14400 block of Valerio Street in Van Nuys. Both men had been stabbed in the chest, and Restropo was shot in the face at close range.

Police said the victims had been handcuffed and gagged before they were killed, allegedly because they owed Loaiza money for drugs.

In her opening statement at the trial, Speer said she plans to call Mendez as a witness. Mendez was recently placed in a witness protection program after receiving numerous threats against her life.

Speer said Abreu, who had been stabbed twice in the chest with a kitchen knife, crawled to Mendez’s apartment and told the terrified woman that “Danny did it. Danny did it.”

If convicted, Loaiza, a Colombian national, could receive life in prison without parole because the crime was premeditated, Speer said.

Other suspects are still being sought in connection with the slayings, Los Angeles police said.