The young gangster suspected of killing hard-working Paul Bilodeau at a desolate Fox Hills construction site the day after New Year’s Day last year heard a daunting pronouncement from the bench this morning that may have an impact on his psyche even though he is 25 years old and already working on his fifth felony charge and fourth potential conviction.
After Myron Deshun Grant entered a not-guilty plea at his arraignment at the Airport Courthouse, Judge Keith L. Schwartz told him that the Dep. District Attorney Joe Markus had not yet decided which of two choices to make, whether to seek a death sentence or settle for life without possibility of parole.
The judge said that Mr. Grant, incarcerated since the LAPD arrested him in South Central late on the night of Feb. 26 on a felony charge since dismissed, should settle in for a lengthy wait. His trial is well off into the future. It has taken two months to wade through his arraignment, and his preliminary hearing is set for Wednesday, Sept. 28.
Three persons related to the alleged killer were in court to support him, and he glanced over his shoulder in a sign of recognition without altering his expression. Later, in the ninth-floor corridor following the brief hearing, Mr. Grant’s attorney, public defender Michael Russo, instructed the three not to talk to the media.
Previously found guilty of drugs, burglary and weapons felonies, Mr. Grant stands accused of murder with special circumstances. He is believed to have sneaked into a vast, dark and lonely property on Bristol Parkway, where Fire Station No. 3 was being built, and killing the 45-year-old Mr. Bilodeau, a bachelor, about mid-evening on Friday, Jan. 2, ’09. Culver City police believe armed robbery may have been Mr. Grant’s original intent, and that is where the special circumstance comes in, after Mr. Bilodeau resisted his intrusion.
Mr. Bilodeau, reputed to be a tireless worker, was singularly devoted to his aging relatives, including his parents, family members said. He had just returned from a regularly scheduled Friday night dinner with his elderly uncle. He wanted to squeeze in a few tasks before starting a late-night drive toward Ventura to weekend with his parents, which he frequently did.
