Sunday, June 6, 2010

Death of a swordsman

A follow-up to the original story.

Porn actor sought in slaying dies in hillside fall


LOS ANGELES (AP) - A porn actor suspected of killing a colleague with a sword has died after jumping from a rocky hillside after a standoff with police. 

Police Officer Bruce Borihanh says a "less than lethal munition" was used against Stephen Clancy Hill Saturday just before his jump.

SWAT officers spent part of the afternoon trying to talk Hill down from the hill as he clutched a sword. Borihanh says the 34-year-old actor fell some 40 feet.

Hill fled to the Chatsworth neighborhood hillside after leaving a house where he was barricaded for most of Saturday. He faced murder and attempted murder charges in Tuesday's attack at a DVD production center.


THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

LOS ANGELES (AP)—A porn actor suspected of killing a colleague with a sword was taken into police custody Saturday after he fell some 40 feet from a rocky hillside from which he had been threatening to jump, officials said.

A "less lethal munition" was used against Stephen Clancy Hill just before his plummet, said police Officer Bruce Borihanh, who had no other details about the weapon that was used.

SWAT officers spent part of Saturday afternoon trying to talk Hill down from the outcropping as he clutched a sword.

It was unknown whether the sword was the murder weapon in Tuesday's deadly attack at a DVD production center that also left two people injured.

Hill fled to the Chatsworth neighborhood hillside after leaving a house where he was barricaded for most of Saturday.

Borihanh said Hill, 34, would be booked on murder and attempted murder charges after he was treated by paramedics. His condition was unknown.

The charges were filed against Hill Friday after Eric Jover, who runs the Ultima DVD production house, offered a $2,000 reward on the company's website for information leading to his arrest.

Hill attacked a colleague with a sword that was used as a film prop during a social gathering at the Ultima's studios about a week after being told he was being fired and that he would have to move out of the production facility, where he had been living, authorities said.

He then turned on two others who rushed to their co-worker's defense. One of those who attempted to help, Herbert Hin Wong, 30, was killed in the attack.

Hill, whose professional name is Steve Driver, fled in an SUV with the murder weapon, authorities said.
Ultima is located in the San Fernando Valley, known in the adult film industry as Porn Valley for its large number of porn businesses. The small company produces niche films featuring fetishes and sexual domination of men.

Hill was convicted of second-degree assault and a handgun charge in March 1999 in Maryland, according to court records.