•' '
April 8 , 1991
Mr . Warren Christopher
Christopher Commission
400 South Hope Street - 15th Floor
Los Angeles , Ca. 90071-2899
SUBJECT: LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT BRUTALITY
Dear Mr. Christopher :
RECE:IVE:c­APR
11 1991
VY.,.c. 's OFFICE
My brother , Gary Mark Snyder, was murdered on June 1, 1989 by the Los Angeles
Police Department . He was 51 years old at the time . Gary has four children who
were ages 22 to 29 then.
My nieces and nephews have tried their best since then to get some justice (both
crimi nal and civi l) but no one wanted to touch it . There was one lawyer who got
money from them and supposedly filed cha~ges "just in time" , t·•.it has now disap­pear
ed . I have his name and number and have left a message but he hasn ' t called
back. The kids did get a probate lawyer to handle the probate. The only real
asset was my brother ' s mortgaged house that the pol ice destroyed with their
battering ram.
I was unable to do anything at the time of my brother ' s death as I was totally
t raumatized. We were very close. Then 6 days after his death on June 7, 1989
our mother suddenly died of a heart a t tack in an Iowa nurs i ng home . I was too
much in shock to even go to her funeral . Less than a year after that my boyfriend
since 1984 was diagnosed with Huntington ' s Disease, which is fatal . So , it has
not been a good 2 years ! Now that I am emotionally stronger and the climate has
changed as far as the general public being aware of how the LAPD really operates
I would like to actively pursue seeing that my brother's death is avenged .
POLICE VERSION VS. PROBABLE FACTS : (see attached L.A. Times article dtd 6/2/89)
e1) "A Van Nuys man who fired several gunshots at Los Angeles police officers shot himself to death''
Was there a search warrant? Were there any witnesses (other than the police) that
Gary fired shots out the window? I understand the three people who came out of
his l1uuse w.:::r t: s l1ov t:J under mat~re:;ses at a :ieighbcr ' s ho!.!se . I i·•ill be cl:>J.e to
gain contact with two of them, Billy Burt and Jill Croteau. If, in fact , Gary did
fire shots was it after the police shot and killed his dog , Burt, who was outside
in the fenced backyard? Gary really loved that dog . At some time during that
night the police set a license plate against the dead dog that said "DOG GLUE" ,
laughed and took pictures . If the police wanted Gary out of his house so bad why
didn ' t they contact a relative to talk him out like they do on T.V.? We have an
independent autopsy report showing my brother was killed by a blunt object to the
head and there was no bullet as claimed by the L.A. Coroner ' s Office . There was
a stone statue of a bear in the house that had hair and blood on it. Either the
police got in and hit Gary with it or their battering ram did . We have the evidence .
The body was taken from the San Fernando Mortuary by the L. A. Coroner ' s Office
and cremated in September 1989 - less than a month after they took it. Are'nt they
supposed to wait 6 months?
-· ..
page 2
2) "After several calls from police for Snyder to surrender, officers shot tear gas
into the house"
Since there was no response from Gary before they knocked down the house with
the battering ram isn't it possible he passed out from the tear gas and couldn ' t
respond?
3) "Pol i ce found Nazi paraphernalia"
4)
My b r other was in no way connected with any Nazi organization or any other organ­ization.
This was just a part of his warped sen se of humor and completely harm­less.
Ov er the years some of his best friends were Black and Hi s panic .
Neighbors said : "neighborhood terror, Snyde r had several weapons, this guy was
dangerous, that he had guns , unfriendly , heavily tatooed man whom they feared,
took poor care of his property and rode loud motorcycles , allowed a friend t o
park an old school bus on the street, they suspected him of throwing a beer bottle
through a neighbor 1 s window and of painting t .he sidewalk in front of another
neighbor ' s house, he was a real terror and people living on the block tried to
stay away"
Well , my brother was heavily tatooed, he did have a motorcycle and did take po o r
care of his property . He took my father ' s shotgun when he died 6/88 and his
deceas ed wife had owned a pistol. The other statements a r e merely prejudicial
and unsubstantiated opinions . Are these reasons to kill him?
Please read the enclosed p r ofile on my brother and contact me if you can help in
any way.
Sincerely,
- ~-~ Judy Snyder
P . O. Box 2369
Big Bear City, Ca . 92314
(714) 585-1 264
P . S. I am most definitely in favor of ousting Darryl Gates . I believe that he
sets the climate for the LAPD .
. e KENLU8AS I IMAngel .. Tt­DeteCtives
confer on front lawn of home arter bat!ering ram was used. Below, vahicle backs "wRy from the o;u!'rect's house .
Barricaded M&n Kills
Himself in VanNuys
By MICHAEL CONNELLY. TlmuSta/f Writn (,/·;;./f 7
A Van Nuys man who Clred
several gunshots at Los Angeles
pohoc omccrs shot himself lo death
Thursday during a lengthy standoff
that ended after the city's armored
baucring ram d estroyed most or his
house.
The gunman. C;iry Snyder. 5 1,
an unemployed I.Ow truck driver
described by residents as a neigh­borhood
"terror," was round dead
about 6:30 a.m. in the rubble or his
home.
About three hours earlier. police
drove the tank-like batlenng ram
into lhe three-bedroom house sev­eral
limes. leaving nll but one rear
bedroom destroyed.
Pohce said Snyder was found
under debris in the hving room and
appeared to have klUed himself
w1lh a shotgun blast The shotgun
and a handgun were found by his
side.
LL Warren Knowles said lhe
lllC1den1 began about 8:45 p.m.
Wednesday when a woman idenLi­fied
as Snyder's girlfriend , Tina
Marie Rathje, 30. ran from his home
screaming for help but was chased
down by Snyder at a neighbor's
house and forced back LO his house.
'l'he neighbors called polic<' but
warned officers that Snyder had
several weapons in his home.
"They were I.Old lhal this guy was
danger ous, lhal he had guns."
Kno wles said.
Rather lhan approach Snyder's
front door. lhc officers used t heir
patrol car's loudspeaker lo order
ever yone out or his house. located
on a cul-de-sac In the 7500 block or
De Celis Place.
Three people emerged. including
house males WIUiam Burti. 4 1. Jill
Croteau. 45, and Rathje, who had
bruises on her race and stomach.
They I.Old officers that Snyder was
armed and refused to leave.
The police Special Weapons and
Tactics team was called lo the
scene and nearby homes were
evacuated while str eets were
closed LO tramc.
Arter several c:i lls from police
for Snyder to surrender. omcers
shot lcar gas into lhc house . Police
said Snyder responded by firing
about 10 shots from a side wmdow.
No one was injured.
Police said Snyder's shots "inlll­ated
our decision LO bring out the
ram," Know les said.
··snyder was :islted to come to
the window and look al the ram."
Knowles said. "He was told WO'
intended to use ll If he did not come
ouL"
There was no response and nt 3
a.m. o fficers s tarted repeatedl y
crashing the ram in to the house.
" ll completely took oul lhc front
or lhe house," saJd Mitch Luporr. a
neighbor. "You could hear glass
crashing and walls crumbling."
Afterwards, officers searched
the rubble for nearly three hours
before finding Snyder's body.
ln the one room left undamaged
by the ram, police found Nazi
paraphernalia. including swastika
flags and slickers. Officers also
round boxes in the back yard
cont:unmg hundreds or spent car­tridge
casi ngs that Snyder appar­ently
had collected.
Some neighbors described Sny-dcr
as an unfriendly. heavily tat­tooed
man whom they reared. They
said Snyder took poor care or his
property and rode loud motorcy­cles.
He reccnll)' u!)S('l neighbors
by allowing a rncnd LO park an old
school bus on the slrcct.
Lupolf said he believed lhat
some residents reared Snyder be·
cause they suspected him or throw­ing
a beer bottle through a ne1gh ­bor
·s window and or painllng the
sidewalk in front or another neigh­bor's
home after getting lnlo d1s­P\
llCS wtth him.
" He was a re:il tcrror. and people
hving on the block tried to stay
away," Lupolf !1aid.
Times staff writer Nieson H im ­mel
cont ributed to this story.