Suspects in Slaying at Zuma Beach Arrive in L.A. for Arraignment

Two New Mexico teen-agers accused of fatally stabbing a Northridge woman in a Zuma Beach restroom arrived in Los Angeles on Thursday to face murder charges.

Guillermo Bustos, 16, and Michael Loretto, 17, are scheduled to be arraigned today in Malibu Municipal Court for the May 28 slaying of Jacqueline Kirkham, 43. The youths arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on Thursday afternoon and were taken to the Lennox sheriff’s station, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Mary Landreth said.

The youths, who have been held in a Santa Fe juvenile detention center, recently gave up their monthlong extradition fight after New Mexico Gov. Bruce King signed a warrant ordering their transfer.

Bustos and Loretto, both of Pojoaque, N.M., and Jason Alexander, 17, initially traveled to Los Angeles after allegedly robbing a liquor store in their rural hometown, authorities said. After their cash ran out, the youths stabbed Kirkham and stole cash and her car to return home, prosecutors allege.

Kirkham, a French-born saleswoman who frequented the popular beach on Tuesday afternoons to relax and sunbathe, was chosen at random, police said.

The youths fled in Kirkham’s sports car, authorities said. When they arrived home, the trio allegedly tried to sell the vehicle to another group of youths, who wrecked it on a winding road south of Santa Fe, leading investigators to the three youths.