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L.A. police hunt allegedly murderous gang leader LOS ANGELES TIMES, Feb 12, 2003 LOS ANGELES -- A northeast Los Angeles gang leader described by police as a thrill killer is wanted in connection with 12 homicides, earning him a place on the city's all-time roster of suspected multiple murderers. Over the last five years, Timothy Joseph McGhee has either overseen or pulled the trigger in the executions of gang rivals, witnesses and others simply unlucky enough to have crossed his path, police allege. McGhee, 29, has spent a third of his life behind bars, but for the last 13 months he has managed to elude police. Authorities have offered $5,000 to anyone who can help them find McGhee, and another $50,000 for information leading to his arrest and conviction. "(Charles) Manson killed seven people, and it was national news," said Los Angeles Police Department Detective Andy Teague. "This guy could rank up there with the worst of the worst. The difference is, this case hasn't gotten the publicity." He said McGhee has targeted unarmed and defenseless people, often going on hunting expeditions with fellow gang members. "He likes killing people; it's his high and he does it for kicks," Teague said. Police said McGhee runs the Toonerville gang, whose mostly Latino members claim a largely middle-class area of Los Angeles. McGhee was convicted in 1994 for assaulting a peace officer and sentenced to four years in prison. He was released after serving three years, and then sent back to prison in 1997 on a parole violation. He was released in March 1999, violated parole again and was returned to prison in February 2000. He was released two months later. Police suspect that McGhee killed two rival gang members in 1997 and a music studio security guard in 1999. McGhee was "out hunting" with fellow gang members on June 3, 2000, when they allegedly killed 16-year-old Ryan Gonzales, Teague said. "When they go into rival territory, it's like a hunter going into a big-game preserve," he said. Gonzales happened to share McGhee's street name of Huero -- a Spanish nickname for someone light-skinned. He was walking home from a party when police say McGhee and others fatally shot him. Police said they believe one reason is that McGhee didn't think the area was big enough for two people with the same nickname. McGhee is alleged to have fatally shot a man sketching a picture at the L.A. River on Sept. 14, 2000, police said, and then, seeing that a nearby homeless man may have been a witness, allegedly killed him, too.McGhee's alleged killing spree accelerated during the summer of 2001, police said. On June 12, McGhee is suspected of fatally shooting Pomona resident Manuel Apodaca and critically wounding his pregnant girlfriend, Nina Guerrero . Guerrero suffered severe brain damage, but was able to give birth. The couple made money robbing drug dealers, Teague said, and McGhee allegedly shot them when they tried to rob him. The next month, McGhee allegedly ordered the killing of Carlos Velasco, a man working behind a furniture warehouse. McGhee had passed by and didn't recognize the man, police said, so he ordered gang subordinates "to take care of" the stranger. Less than three weeks later, McGhee allegedly killed Bryham Robinson, 38; Cheri Wisotsky, 46; and her mother, Mary Ann Wisotsky, 64. McGhee had heard Cheri Wisotsky told police about drug-dealing at the house where McGhee's sister lived. Authorities allege the others were killed because they were witnesses. McGhee's family declined comment for this story. In November, 2001, McGhee and fellow gang members, armed with hand guns and assault rifle, allegedly went looking to kill a victim in rival territory, police said -- revenge for the earlier slaying of a Toonerville member. They spotted an SUV and decided its occupants would be their next victims, police said. McGhee and his associates allegedly cut off the car and then fatally shot Margie Mendoza, a mother of two, and wounded her husband. "They murdered the first people they saw," Teague said. "For them it didn't matter if it was a guy watering his lawn or a kid skateboarding down the street. All that's necessary is that the victim is in the rival gang's territory." McGhee has many gang tattoos, including an eagle and snake from the Mexican flag emblazoned across the back of his head. "Atwater Village," appears on his chest, and "Toonerville Rifa" on his back, according to police. Teague said investigators have had difficulty persuading witnesses to cooperate. McGhee's deadly reputation intimidates residents, rival gang members and his own associates, he said. McGhee allegedly runs his gang like a paramilitary group, posting armed sentries equipped with cell phones or walkie-talkies to watch streets in their neighborhood, police said. McGhee demands absolute loyalty and leads his followers in calisthenics, target shooting, and schools them in tactics. He took police science classes at a local college, Teague said, so he can keep one step ahead of the law. Gang crime in McGhee's neighborhood has risen and fallen, Teague said, depending on whether McGhee is in prison or free. "Basically, he's a monster," Teague said. News Topics | Home | Research | History | Blood Gangs | Crip Gangs | People| Life in a Gang | Gallery | Iraqi Cards | Memorial | Migration | Graffiti | Resume| Injunctions Homicides | Maps | California Prisons | Contact

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