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February 20, 2011

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Cops reopen murder case

ALMOST a decade after the bodies of two men were found in a burned Mercedes sport utility vehicle, police detectives in California said they need the public's help in cracking the case, which has ties to designer jewelry, a Wall Street pyramid scheme and a former Playboy cover girl.

The case dates back to the early morning of September 2, 2002, when firefighters doused a vehicle that was ablaze in the Studio City neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley. In the SUV, they found the bodies of nightclub doorman Michael Tardio, 35, and his close friend Christopher Monson, 31. Both had been shot to death.

The men were well-known in the Hollywood club scene. Detectives said on Friday they hoped former customers of the Garden of Eden nightclub, where Tardio worked, would come forward with information. A US$75,000 reward was being offered.

"We believe the nucleus of this case is around the Garden of Eden," Detective Dennis English said.

English said the men were likely killed by someone to whom they were trying to sell jewelry.

The jewelry had been in the possession of Sandy Bentley, Tardio's girlfriend at the time, who became a minor celebrity after appearing on the cover of Playboy magazine with her twin sister in May 2000.

(AP)



 

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