DOWNTOWN : Murder Charges to Be Filed in ’92 Stabbing

Two suspects in last year’s fatal stabbing of a 23-year-old recent UCLA graduate in a Downtown parking garage will be charged with first-degree murder at a preliminary hearing Friday, authorities said.

Timothy Gantt, 47, and Michael Smith, 33, were arrested in September and are being held in Los Angeles County Jail. Kalpesh Vardhan of the San Gabriel Valley was slain inside an Olive Street parking garage in August, 1992.

The testimony of three witnesses, who each saw part of the crime, led to the arrests, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Sterling Norris.

Gantt and Smith had been in custody once before, Norris said, “but the D.A. handling the case at the time did not think there was enough evidence to proceed.”

Vardhan, who had just started working for Andersen Consulting, a Downtown engineering firm, was leaving his car when he was attacked. His wallet was missing when his body was discovered, said Detective Jose Reyes of the Central Division.

Andersen Consulting, the City Council and Maguire Thomas Partners, the garage owners, teamed up to offer a $40,000 reward last year for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case. A reward would not be given until after the trial, Norris said.