San Fernando Valley : Vandal’s Killer Sent to Trash Crew

William A. Masters II, who was convicted of fatally shooting a graffiti vandal in Sun Valley last January, will not be required to remove graffiti as part of his sentence, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

Masters instead will serve on a trash pickup crew supervised by Caltrans, said Deputy City Atty. George A. Schell.

Schell, who prosecuted the case against Masters, said the sentence was altered as a precautionary measure. Masters, who has been threatened since the shooting, would be more likely to encounter vandals while removing graffiti than on a 30-day trash pickup assignment, Schell said.

“There might be at least some potential for danger,” he said. “We just thought it might be more sensible.”

The rest of Masters’ November sentence remains the same, including three years probation, giving up his gun collection and attending a program viewing crime victims in an emergency room and witnessing an autopsy.

Masters killed Cesar Rene Arce, 18, and wounded David Hillo, then 20, on Jan. 31 under a Hollywood Freeway overpass. Masters was convicted in October of carrying a concealed and loaded firearm in public. Masters contended that he acted in self-defense after he was threatened with a screwdriver.