All-night crime spree led to murder of actor Johnny Wactor, investigators say

LOS ANGELES (CN) — The fatal shooting of an actor was just final act of a crime spree that lasted well into the night, according to testimony given during a preliminary hearing, on Monday, for the two suspects charged in the murder of Johnny Wactor.

Prosecutors say that Robert Barceleau, Sergio Estrada and Leonel Gutierrez — each one just 18 years of age and members of the Florencia 13 street gang — were attempting to steal the catalytic converter, an oft-stolen device that limits pollution coming out of cars, attached to Wactor’s Prius, shortly after 3 a.m. on the morning of May 24, 2024.

Wactor, a workaday actor who appeared on the soap opera “General Hospital,” was also a bartender in Downtown LA, just getting off of work at the time. He and a co-worker were walking to their cars when they noticed that the Prius was tilted up and to the side, as if about to be towed. They then saw young men with ski masks on, and realized it was a robbery.

According to LAPD Homicide Detective Keith Gonzalez, Wactor’s co-worker took out her phone and tried to take a photo of the thieves. Wactor took two or three steps toward them, and shouted, “Hey, what the fuck? This is my car!”

It was then that, prosecutors say, Barceleau pulled out a gun and shot Wactor, once in the chest. He died later that night. The three men got into their car and sped away — leaving behind their two-ton car jack they had been using.

In August, Gutierrez pleaded guilty to one count each of robbery and grand theft for his role in the attempted robbery.

On Monday, investigators laid out the trail that led them to the three 18-year-olds. Fingerprints found on the car jack were matched to those of Barceleau, Estrada and Gutierrez.

Using cell phone data, security camera footage and devices that can track license plate numbers, detectives were able to piece together evidence of an industrious crime spree that began by renting a stolen car from Frank Olano, driving around and stealing six catalytic converters with the use of the car jack and a reciprocating saw. The car parts were sold to 22-year-old Olano, who has been charged with one count of accessory after the fact to murder, one count of receiving stolen property and three counts of being a felon with a firearm. He has pleaded no contest.

Officers found security camera footage of what was likely the last theft before the unplanned killing of Wactor, from a car parked near the University of Southern California, less than two miles from the scene of the murder. Investigators were able to read the license plate of the stolen car, which they were then able to use to help track their movements throughout the night.

The teenagers’ night ended at La Perla, a cheap motel in South Gate. There, Barceleau and Estrada took a photograph that cops later obtained. Shown in court, it depicts Estrada posing, holding a large fan of cash, his arm around Barceleau, who is flashing a gang sign and pointing a black semiautomatic handgun with a laser attachment at the camera, its red laser beam shining directly below the camera’s lens. The photo was taken roughly five hours after Wactor’s murder.

After the hearing, Wactor’s mother, Scarlett Wactor, said the photo showed the accused had “no shame.”

“They’re allowed to run amuck. There’s nothing to fear. My son paid for it with his life. All for a catalytic convertor,” she said.

Police gleaned scant evidence at the scene of the crime: no bullets, no casings, nothing to match the shooting to the handgun Barceleau was holding in the motel photograph, which police were able to recover. But investigators were able to obtain incriminating statements made by Barceleau and Estrada inside a jail cell, as they unwittingly spoke to the same undercover agent.

According to testimony by LAPD homicide detective Justin Howarth, the undercover agent spoke to Barceleau first, on August 15. The agent identified himself as ‘Mugsy’ from the Westside Vedurgos gang. Barceleau identified himself as ‘Smalls,’ from Florencia. According to Howarth, Barceleau admitted to the agent that he had shot Wactor.

“He stated he had shot him because he had gone after the homey, or the homey was in danger,” Howarth testified, “because Wactor was approaching him.”

Howarth testified that Barceleau also revealed that Estrada and Gutierrez were with him during the botched robbery, and that he later “contacted his father to dispose of murder weapon.” Barceleau’s father was in court for the preliminary hearing, and could be heard talking and arguing with one of the sheriff’s deputies.

Estrada spoke the same undercover agent later that day, and told him, according to Howarth, that as they were stealing the catalytic converter, he was surprised to see Wactor approaching him, and when he saw Barceleau pull out a gun, Estrada yelled out, “No!”

“Estrada says he knows that Barceleau is hot-headed and that he was armed the entire time they were out doing these thefts that night,” Howarth testified. “And because of that, he didn’t want to go to work with him.”

The preliminary hearing will conclude on Tuesday, when defense attorneys will cross examine Howarth. Prosecutors have said they will also call a gang expert to testify. A Superior Court Judge will then determine if there is enough evidence to proceed to a trial.

“I think the evidence is really strong,” Scarlett Wactor told reporters in the courthouse hallway, after the conclusion of Monday’s testimony. “I’m excited to see the end of it, and see them put behind bars.”

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