4 arrested in connection with killing of “General Hospital ”actor Johnny Wactor
The actor was shot and killed in May after confronting a group of men near his car. He was 37.
Police arrested four people in connection with the May shooting death of General Hospital actor Johnny Wactor.
The Los Angeles Police Department issued a news release on Thursday stating that earlier that morning "the Los Angeles Police Department's Central Bureau Homicide conducted search warrants relating to the John Wactor case at several locations throughout Los Angeles. These search warrants resulted in four people being arrested and evidence recovered."
Police revealed the identities of Wactor's suspected killers, all between the ages of 18-22. They are Robert Barceleau, Leonel Gutierrez, Sergio Estrada, and Frank Olano, all residents of Los Angeles County. While Olano has been booked on an arrest warrant for accessory, the three others have all been booked on warrants for Murder.
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Johnny Wactor at the premiere of "Silent River" in 2022.The Los Angeles Times reported that the men are thought to be affiliated with a local gang that has been tied to a spate of catalytic converter thefts in the region. Wactor was killed in the early hours of May 25 when he came upon three men allegedly attempting to steal his car's catalytic converter, a witness told police.
Wactor had just left a bartending shift at the Downtown entertainment venue Level 8 with his coworker, Anita Joy, who previously said that Wactor thought the men may be readying his car to be towed, but when he approached and addressed them, one turned and shot him. The former soap star was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead at age 37.
In a lengthy Instagram post days after his death, Joy described Wactor's shooting in detail. "Johnny was between me and the man who shot him — as I heard the shot ring into the night, he forcefully tumbled back into my arms and as I grabbed for him," she wrote. "I shouted, ‘Hunny you ok?’ And he only responded, ‘Nope! Shot!’"
"My only peace is that I was with him and this didn’t happen to him alone — my only other peace will be seeing these awful men brought to justice," Joy's post concluded.
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On Aug. 5, LAPD released surveillance images of the suspects, asking the public for help with identification. One suspect bore a distinctive facial tattoo, and the getaway car was identified as a 2018 black Infiniti Q50 sedan with a tan interior.
The manhunt for Wactor's killers lasted nearly three months, during which time Wactor's family members publicly called for his killers to be brought to justice. In June, family and friends organized a march through Downtown L.A. to raise awareness for his unsolved case.
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Catalytic converter thefts have been on the rise in the Los Angeles area since the start of the pandemic. Thieves target the car part because it can be stripped for precious metals like palladium and rhodium, which can be melted down and sold at high value.
Wactor starred as the veteran, mechanic, and former hired gun Brando Corbin on 164 episodes of General Hospital between 2020-2022. He also made appearances in series like Westworld, The OA, Criminal Minds, and Siberia. Wactor is survived by his mother and two brothers.
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