Criminal Justice
Former businessman extradited and charged in alleged ‘execution-style’ murders of lawyer and ex-employee
A former Los Angeles businessman has been charged with the alleged murders of a lawyer and a former employee after he was extradited from Montenegro to the United States, authorities reported Monday. He is suspected in a third murder in Las Vegas. (Image from Shutterstock)
A former Los Angeles businessman has been charged with the alleged murders of a lawyer and a former employee after he was extradited from Montenegro to the United States, authorities reported Monday. He is suspected in a third murder in Las Vegas.
Richard Harry Wall Sr., 73, faces two counts of murder and two counts of conspiracy to commit murder with special allegations and is scheduled to appear in the Los Angeles County Superior Court on July 1.
He is thought to be “the mastermind behind the execution-style slayings” of Jeffrey Tidus, an attorney shot outside his Rolling Hills Estates, California, home in 2009, according to a June 15 press release.
Tidus won a $1.7 million settlement against a close friend of Wall’s. He is also suspected in ordering the killing of Juan Gabriel Mendez-Ramirez, who was shot and killed in front of his two children in 2011. Mendez-Ramirez won a payment dispute settlement of $300,000 against Wall, who was his employer, according to coverage by the East Bay Times.
“These were vicious and callous murders that we believe came at the behest of Mr. Wall, who thought killing two people would end his legal problems,” said Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman in the press release. “Such allegedly ruthless decision-making has landed Mr. Wall in far worse shape now.”
Wall did not become a suspect in the killings until 2017, according to the East Bay Times, and by then, he had moved into a $2 million home in Montenegro. Wall said he is not guilty of the crimes.
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