Kevin Bernard Haley

Background

Kevin Bernard Haley was born in 1964. His older brother was Reginald Haley, who was born in 1960. The Haley brothers shared drugs and women and operated together.

During the five-year period ending with their arrest in 1984, detectives described the brothers as being spurred on by “a burning cocaine habit.” They participated in an estimated 500 burglaries, 60 rapes, and eight murders over that period.

The offence

The Haley brothers’ crime wave included burglaries, rapes, sexual violence, and murders.

The first death in the official tally was Isabel Burton, 90, who was beaten to death. Her home was looted and ransacked, and the killing occurred on April 20, 1983.

D. Robinoff, 78, was beaten, raped, and murdered in a small L.A. apartment on April 20, 1984, exactly one year after Isabel Burton’s death.

Willa Gerber was a missed target. The brothers bungled a streetcorner abduction on May 12. They rebounded five days later by gunning down 15-year-old Jodie Samuels as she ran to catch a school bus.

After the street violence, the brothers victimized older women in their homes. Laverne Stolzy, 56, was raped and slain on June 26. Elizabeth Burns, 79, was beaten to death. Elizibeth Karp, 89, was strangled.

T. Okauchi, 88, was bludgeoned to death in her looted home in August. Dolores Clement, 55, was raped and murdered on September 27.

The trial record included references to additional victims and alleged crimes. Barshop said he planned to introduce evidence about the Samuel murder and the 1979 murder of Elizabeth Burns. Charges were not filed in the Burns slaying.

Investigation

Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates said in 1984 that the Haley brothers might be responsible for as many as eight killings, including “some of the most violent murders committed against older women in this city.” Gates also said they were suspects in 60 rapes and 500 burglaries from South Los Angeles to Venice over a five-year period.

After their arrest in 1984, police said Kevin Haley had admitted committing six rapes and 53 burglaries.

During Kevin Haley’s three-week trial, jurors heard a tape of Haley confessing to the Clement murder. Jurors also saw a diagram he drew of the crime scene. Fingerprints were found at the scene, according to the prosecutor.

Arrest

The Haley brothers were arrested on October 11, 1984.

After interrogation, the brothers cracked swiftly and provided graphic details of previously unreported rapes.

Trial

Kevin Bernard Haley faced a trial in connection with multiple charges involving Dolores Clement and other alleged victims.

Dolores Clement case

The Los Angeles Times described that Kevin Bernard Haley, 24, could get the death penalty for the September, 1984, strangulation murder, rape, sodomy, robbery, and burglary of Dolores Clement, 55.

The jury began deliberations May 24 and deadlocked on whether Haley murdered Laverne Stolzy, 56, in 1984, and on attempted rape and oral copulation counts involving a third victim who did not testify.

A mistrial was declared on those counts after jurors voted 9-3 for acquittal in the Stolzy murder and 7-5 for a verdict of guilty in the third case. Deputy Dist. Atty. Steven M. Barshop said: “After jurors voted 9-3 for acquittal in the Stolzy murder and 7-5 for a verdict of guilty in the third case.”

Haley was facing a separate trial for the murder of Jodi Samuel, 15, who was robbed and shot on a Wilshire-area street as she walked to catch a school bus.

A Los Angeles Superior Court jury convicted Haley of murder, rape, sodomy, robbery, and burglary in the Dolores Clement case. The jury fixed the penalty at death.

Jodie Samuel case (separate trial)

Deputy Dist. Atty. Steven M. Barshop said he planned to introduce evidence about the Samuel murder.

Sentencing

In the Dolores Clement case, the jury fixed the penalty at death.

Reginald Haley received a different sentence after his conviction.

Appeals

No appeals were described in the provided material.

Outcome

Kevin Bernard Haley’s status was sentencing to death in July 1988.

Reginald Haley was convicted on August 8, 1987, on 20 counts, and was sentenced to 60 years plus one term of life imprisonment.

The material also stated that while Reginald Haley was theoretically eligible for parole after 30 years, it appeared unlikely he would ever walk the streets again.

Other details

Deputy Dist. Atty. Steven M. Barshop described the brothers as “hot prowl burglars,” who broke into occupied homes at night and often attacked the occupants after burglarizing their homes.

Barshop also said the charges involved 24 victims and a series of crimes committed from August 1983 to August 1984.

Kevin Haley’s charges were described as including 13 burglaries, one robbery, one attempted rape, and one count of oral copulation. Together, the brothers were charged with six robberies, two kidnappings, one rape, and one count of sodomy.

The charges against Reginald Haley included four counts of robbery, two of burglary, two of rape, two of sodomy, two of oral copulation, two of sexual assault, one of kidnapping, and one of auto theft.

Michael Newton was cited in connection with a description: “Man Convicted of ’84 Rape, Murder of Woman By Terry Pristin - Los Angeles Times June 7, 1988.”

The record included metadata-style descriptors: SEX: 2M, RACE: B, TYPE: T, MOTIVE: CE/Sex./Sad., DATE(S): 1983-84, VENUE: Los Angeles, Calif., VICTIMS: Seven, MO: Career criminals, serial rapists, and random slayers of females age 15 to 89. DISPOSITION: Life + 60 years for Reginald, 1987; Kevin condemned, 1988.

A statement included that the brothers missed Willa Gerber, bungling a streetcorner abduction on May 12, but they rebounded five days later by gunning down Jodie Samuels as she ran to catch a school bus.

The record also included that in addition to Kevin’s various murder charges, the Haley brothers had 42 felony charges involving 24 separate victims.