It was 2:05 a.m. on Sunday, December 14, 1980 and the Bob’s Big Boy restaurant on La Cienega near Sawyer, just north of the Santa Monica Freeway, was closed for the night. There were still eleven people inside, two customers preparing to leave, and nine employees.
Two black men entered the restaurant through the front door. The late comers could have been customers who had not realized the restaurant was closed except that each them was brandishing a sawed-off shotgun, and one of them was armed with a revolver.
All eleven people were herded at gunpoint into the restaurant’s 8×15 foot walk-in freezer and made to lie on the floor. The victims complied with every request. They covered their heads with their hands and waited for the ordeal to end. Then, for no apparent reason, the robbers opened fire. When they were finished the freezer was an abattoir and three people were dead.
The bloodbath at Bob’s ended the fourth highest weekend of murder on record in Los Angeles with a total of 32 people slain. It was an appalling statistic and prompted Lt. Glenn Ackerman of LAPD’s West LA division to say: “What in the name of God kind of monster could have done a thing like this? It’s totally out of the realm of the kind of behavior that civilized people can even contemplate.”
Citizens were terrified, and no wonder. The week before the Bob’s murders former Beatle John Lennon was assassinated on the street in front of his New York City apartment. It seemed that no matter where you lived, or who you were, you were not safe. The 1980s was one of the most violent decades in the U.S. since the 1860s and the carnage continued at a record pace until the early 1990s.
LAPD issued a nationwide dragnet for the killers based on the physical descriptions as reported by the victims. The management of Bob’s Big Boy offered a $10,000 reward for information leading their arrest and conviction.
There were three dead at the scene: David Burrell, 20, customer; Aphrodite (Dita) Agtani, 23, waitress and mother of a 4 month old child. Ahmad Mashuck, 20, employee who died several hours later. In critical condition were diswasher Cesario Luna, 45 and Evelyn Jackson, 23, also an employee. In serious condition were Rami Ellen Rogoway, 17, patron; Dionne Alcia Irvin, 20, and Michael Malloy, 23 both employees. Slightly wounded was Derwin Logan, 19, employee. Uninjured were Rhonda Robinson, 19, and Ismael Luna, 20 (Cesario’s son), both employees. Cesario Luna would linger in a coma for several months before he passed away, bringing the death toll to four.
A special LAPD task force to combat violent crime on the West Side was formed and Deputy Police Chief Daniel Sullivan said: “The idea is to keep people from getting hurt in the first place–instead of just arresting someone after something terrible has happened.” The plan was to use cops as decoys. Sullivan continued: “I want the bad guys to know that the next guy they try to rob on the street is liable to be a police officer…”
A task force was all well and good going forward, but meanwhile the cops had to identify and arrest the people responsible for the massacre at Bob’s.
NEXT TIME: The killers are busted.
How many people were killed and how many people were hurt?
Hi Joelle —
Here’s a summary from the post:
There were three dead at the scene: David Burrell, 20, customer; Aphrodite (Dita) Agtani, 23, waitress and mother of a 4 month old child. Ahmad Mashuck, 20, employee who died several hours later. In critical condition were diswasher Cesario Luna, 45 and Evelyn Jackson, 23, also an employee. In serious condition were Rami Ellen Rogoway, 17, patron; Dionne Alcia Irvin, 20, and Michael Malloy, 23 both employees. Slightly wounded was Derwin Logan, 19, employee. Uninjured were Rhonda Robinson, 19, and Ismael Luna, 20 (Cesario’s son), both employees. Cesario Luna would linger in a coma for several months before he passed away, bringing the death toll to four.
Best,
Joan
David Burrell, 20, was an architechnal major at Los Angeles Trade Technical College in Los Angeles. The college’s student paper published a tribute and anti-gun protest in an issue after his murder.
Thank you, Sheldon. It is crushing to realize how much potential was lost in a senseless act of violence. It always breaks my heart.
A friend at the time had asked if I’d heard of the shooting. I was working and going to college so no time for tv. However our friend Tami Rogiway from BBG was a victim. It says Rami but I’m sure it was Tami from Bnai Brith. BBYO had a youth house on La Cienega and they go eat there or Denny’s, Norms and Sambo’s.
Perhaps this was a hate crime. BBYO is a Jewish Organization
We also went to the Bob’s on Santa Monica Blvd in SM CA
Did they ever catch the criminals?
The killers were caught and punished. You can read all the parts of the story by searching for “Bloodbath at Bob’s Big Boy’ on the home page.
Here’s a quick wrap-up of the participants:
Ricky Sanders — is still on death row. On May 26, 2010, he filed an appeal in the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit over the denial of his habeas petition in Federal District Court. I don’t know the outcome of his appeal, but it was very likely denied. If and when California resumes executions he is certainly at the top of the list.
Franklin Freeman Jr. — is in prison serving a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
Carletha Stewart — a petition circulated by a friend of hers a few years ago advocated for her release, but as far as I can tell she is still incarcerated.
Madelynn Koppel — according to the California Bar Association she continues to practice law.
Leslie Abramson — is best known for her defense of Erik and Lyle Menendez for the 1989 shotgun murder of their parents in Beverly Hills.
Harvey Giss — eventually left the DA’s office and went on to become a superior court judge. He retired in July 2014.
What was Carletha Stewart charged with and what was her sentence?
Priscilla,
Here is the wrap-up on Carletha:
Carletha Stewart decided, on the very day she was to go to trial, to plead guilty and avoid the same fate. She copped to all of the crimes she was charged with: four counts of first-degree murder, seven counts of assault with a deadly weapon, six counts of robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery. She admitted to driving the getaway car. Taking everything into consideration she got a good deal, 25 years to life.
I did a little digging and found her on Facebook in a post from 2015, so she has been released. By all accounts she used her time in prison to reform.
She was actually the mastermind. She was a waitress there. However, it was one of the co-workers they thought wouldn’t work that night would’ve been able to if her boyfriend one of the robbers so they decided to kill everyone to avoid any witnesses. But, some played dead & survived being locked in the freezer.
She should stay in jail for the rest of her life!
The victim David Burrell was my brother, he didn’t deserve to die like he did, and in return Carletha , Franklin, or Ricky don’t deserve to enjoy their lives. They blew part of his face off, that was brutal probably because they were afraid he would Identify them, since we all went to school together. PCP ain’t no joke but it is what it is. They need to pay the price with their lives, just like they took his from him with no regard. They disrupted our lives, my families lives. They didn’t just rob the restaurant, they robbed our family.
I agree with you. I don’t believe that Franklin, Ricky or Carletha deserve to enjoy their lives after what they put the victims and their families through. Franklin is still serving life without parole and Ricky is on death row. I find it difficult to stomach, but Carletha is out of prison and has been for several years. I wonder if the people who advocated for Carletha’s release ever had the nerve to approach the families, or if Carletha herself has ever offered an apology for her part in the murders. My understanding is that she entered a guilty plea rather than risk the death penalty, and for that she received 25 to life. In my opinion, she got off easy.
Continue with their lives might better apply than “enjoy” their lives. Was there a follow up by psychologists on how the convicted became so callous and odious?
John,
I agree with you about my choice of words. Enjoy was not the best. I don’t know of
any follow-up with psychologists with the convicts, unless they chose to take advantage
of therapy during incarceration–which I sincerely doubt.
Joan
I can only comment on Ricky’s background because l was friends with his lil brother. Their mom died after giving birth to my friend. Their dad never got over it & after that they endured extreme neglect, abuse & foster care. Teachers even knew & tried to intervene to no avail- they fell through cracks. Some of them made it through. But, many people go through terrible things. I guess from such a young age you become numb & live what you learn.
It just goes to show, that if you’re convicted of a crime having a vagina will get you off or a much lighter sentence, the system is out of wack when it comes to sentencing between men and women, men get much harsher sentences for the same crimes.
In some cases, maybe. But a vagina is not a get out of jail free card. Women commit fewer capital crimes than men. If your point is that justice is unequally applied, I totally agree.
I was in Prison woth Frank Freeman. We worked in the Prison Laundry. He is very cocky arrogant and is in a relationship with a Drag Queen. Yes!
Daryl,
It sounds like Frank never changed. Cocky and arrogant then–same now. Not a shock, although the Drag Queen thing, wow. I hope you are out in the world, happy, healthy, and with prison behind you.
Best,
Joan
Exactly! Carletha & James through Ricky under the bus to take the ultimate price alone when they were the two who masterminded it & brought Ricky in on it. All three played equal parts in my book. I was friend’s with Ricky’s lil brother but, my friend had nothing to do with it nor knew anything about it. But, other people who knew Carletha knew they’d planned to rob the place. My condolences Kelli
But yet Leslie VanHouton is still in jail and cant get a parole.
I confess; I have mixed feelings about Leslie Van Houten. Still, I get your point.
Re: Leslie Van Houten – it seems to be related to how notorious the crime was. The Tate/La Bianca killings rocked the entire country, and so it was a very public event whenever any of the killers came up for parole. No one was willing to be held responsible for letting the “monsters” out. So Manson and Susan Atkins died in prison, Tex Watson and Patricia Krenwinkel are still in prison, and Leslie Van Houten was finally paroled 3 months ago. Others who, like the Manson Family, have committed widely-known notorious murders, are also still in prison today or have died there. But others whose murder sprees were only known locally were eventually quietly paroled.