The temporary charges accused of murdering a 53-year-old man inside an apartment in a valley village in April were accused of murdering an elderly Woodland Hills woman in 2022.
Eric Escamilla, 27, was arrested last month in the Valley Village case and was taken into custody without bail.
According to amended criminal charges filed this week, Escamilla is accused of trying to burn the crime scene by stabbing 81-year-old Ok Ja Kim in a robbery at his Woodland Hills home on August 2, 2022.
A few days later, on August 23, 2022, the complaint alleges that Escamilla stabbed a sharp object during a robbery in San Fernando.
A murder detective from the LAPD Valley Bureau said the relationship between the cases has focused in recent weeks shortly after Escamilla was identified as a suspect in the April 26th murder of Menache “Manny” Hydra in his apartment on Riverside Drive in Valley Village.
Det, the lead investigator in Ok Ja Kim’s 2022 murder. Sharon Kim (unrelated) is pursuing a lead and questioning the robbers suspected of being arrested over the past few years, Lt. Col. Guy Golan said.
“She literally started to cry,” Golan explained the moment when the detective, who was reviewing the case files after Escamilla’s arrest, saw the relationship between the crimes.
Golan has added items for specific evidence dets. Kim, collected during the 2022 survey, contained important clues that ultimately linked the three cases.
He said Ok Ja Kim’s family was informed of the murder charge.
The Kims did not immediately respond to the message NBC Los Angeles left behind.
Hidra’s family is suing the owner of the Valley Village apartment and claims the building manager failed to act properly after residents were frustrated with numerous complaints about prowlers, intrusions and transitions living in stairwells and roofs.
“They’re in ruins,” attorney Steve Valtazarian said of Hydra’s brothers and sisters about the news of additional charges in the case.
He said Hydra’s family lives in Israel and they plan to continue pursuing civil lawsuits.
The apartment owner filed a mutual violation with LA Superior Court and accused LAPD of failing to save HIDRA in answering several radio calls at the apartment before HIDRA’s body was found.
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