Chad Macdonald

Newly released transcripts of conversations between police and a 17-year-old Yorba Linda youth who was a drug informant indicate that the young man knew he was in danger. The attorney for the family of Chad MacDonald released transcripts Wednesday of taped conversations between Brea police and MacDonald, who was found strangled in a South-Central Los Angeles alley in March.

The unexpected good that flowed from Chad MacDonald's short life and tragic death was a state law that slapped strict limits on police agencies that still use youths as informants in criminal investigations. Now that MacDonald's family has accepted a $1-million settlement from Brea and Yorba Linda in connection with the 17-year-old's murder, police departments have more reason to abandon the risky practice of recruiting youthful informants.

Yorba Linda teenager Chad A. MacDonald Jr., a handsome onetime Little Leaguer, spent the last months of his life playing at the edges, balancing his involvement with illicit drugs against his role as juvenile police snitch. When the 17-year-old slipped off that edge, the fall was dramatic, resonating far beyond his Orange County neighborhood and leading to broad condemnations of the Brea Police Department's use of juvenile informants and calls in Sacramento for laws banning the practice.

Prosecutors will not try again to seek death sentences against two men and a woman convicted of strangling and murdering Yorba Linda teen police informant Chad MacDonald in 1998. The decision came two weeks after a Norwalk jury deadlocked over a punishment for the trio and the judge declared a mistrial in the case's penalty phase. Defendants Michael Martinez, 22, Florence Noriega, 30, and Jose Ibarra, 21, will be sentenced to life terms without the possibility of parole at a hearing Dec.

Chad MacDonald, a 17-year-old from Yorba Linda, spent the last months of his life playing at the edges, balancing his involvement with illicit drugs against his role as juvenile police snitch. When he slipped off that edge, the fall was dramatic, resonating far beyond his Orange County neighborhood to spark broad condemnations of the Brea Police Department's use of juvenile informants and calls in Sacramento for laws banning the practice.

Three people must stand trial in the slaying of a Yorba Linda teenager who had been working for police as a drug informant. A Los Angeles Municipal Court judge Wednesday ordered Michael Lucas Martinez, 21, Florence Noriega, 29, and Jose Alfredo Ibarra, 19, all of Norwalk, to appear for arraignment on Sept. 23. Chad MacDonald, 17, worked as an informant after being arrested for possession of methamphetamine in January.

Prosecutors will not try again to seek death sentences against two men and a woman convicted of strangling and murdering Yorba Linda teen police informant Chad MacDonald in 1998. The decision came two weeks after a Norwalk jury deadlocked over a punishment for the trio and the judge declared a mistrial in the case's penalty phase. Defendants Michael Martinez, 22, Florence Noriega, 30, and Jose Ibarra, 21, will be sentenced to life terms without the possibility of parole at a hearing Dec.

How 17-year-old Chad MacDonald Jr. died a month ago isn't the mystery. He was found, strangled, in a Los Angeles alley, presumably after a drug deal went south. We know that much only because a girlfriend who was with him survived being shot in the face and dumped off the highway to help the cops arrest two of the three suspects a few days later.

The girlfriend of slain teenage police informant Chad MacDonald testified Monday that she heard her boyfriend struggling for breath as he was strangled in a Norwalk house where the youths had gone to buy methamphetamine. The 18-year-old woman, identified in court only as Jane Doe, said she heard MacDonald gasping in the living room while she was tied and held in the kitchen. The woman, who was 16 during the March 1998 attack, said she begged her captor to cover her ears.

Re "Family Says Teen's Work as Informant Led to Death," March 23: If it is true that Chad MacDonald Jr. was being used by the Brea police as an informant, the ultimate act of hypocrisy may have been committed. Chad essentially became an unwilling soldier conscripted by the government in its silly war on drugs and ultimately paid with his life. By all accounts Chad was a typical middle-class Yorba Linda teenager and a good student. He made a foolish mistake in experimenting with methamphetamine.

The girlfriend of slain teenage police informant Chad MacDonald testified Monday that she heard her boyfriend struggling for breath as he was strangled in a Norwalk house where the youths had gone to buy methamphetamine. The 18-year-old woman, identified in court only as Jane Doe, said she heard MacDonald gasping in the living room while she was tied and held in the kitchen. The woman, who was 16 during the March 1998 attack, said she begged her captor to cover her ears.

A jury is scheduled to hear opening statements today in the trial of a Norwalk trio accused in the torture-murder of teenage police informant Chad MacDonald, whose death led to a new law restricting the use of youths in undercover police work. The Yorba Linda 17-year-old was found beaten and strangled to death in a South Los Angeles alley in March 1998 after he went to a suspected drug house.

Prosecutors said Friday that they will seek the death penalty against three defendants accused of killing a Yorba Linda teenager who worked as a police informant. The announcement comes eight months after Chad MacDonald, 17, was found beaten and strangled to death in a south Los Angeles alley. His girlfriend was found the same day, wandering dazed in the San Gabriel Mountains after being raped, shot in the jaw and left for dead.

Responding to the slaying of a Yorba Linda teen who had been enlisted as a drug informant, Gov. Pete Wilson has signed into law a measure that would restrict the use of youths as police informants. Wilson said Friday that the measure by Assemblyman Scott Baugh (R-Huntington Beach) would help to assure the safety of children who are ill-equipped to serve as police informants.

Three people must stand trial in the slaying of a Yorba Linda teenager who had been working for police as a drug informant. A Los Angeles Municipal Court judge Wednesday ordered Michael Lucas Martinez, 21, Florence Noriega, 29, and Jose Alfredo Ibarra, 19, all of Norwalk, to appear for arraignment on Sept. 23. Chad MacDonald, 17, worked as an informant after being arrested for possession of methamphetamine in January.

The Assembly gave final approval Friday to a measure that would restrict the use of juveniles as police informants in response to the murder of a Yorba Linda youth who had been enlisted as a drug snitch. The measure by Assemblyman Scott Baugh (R-Huntington Beach) was approved on a 70-2 vote and now goes to Gov. Pete Wilson, who is expected to sign it. Baugh's measure comes after the torture and slaying of 17-year-old Chad MacDonald in March.

A jury is scheduled to hear opening statements today in the trial of a Norwalk trio accused in the torture-murder of teenage police informant Chad MacDonald, whose death led to a new law restricting the use of youths in undercover police work. The Yorba Linda 17-year-old was found beaten and strangled to death in a South Los Angeles alley in March 1998 after he went to a suspected drug house.

The mother of a Yorba Linda teen slain after being enlisted to work as a drug informant for the Brea Police Department has filed a $10-million wrongful-death suit against the cities of Brea and Yorba Linda, her attorney said Friday. Cindy MacDonald, the mother of Chad MacDonald, filed the suit Thursday in Orange County Superior Court. Along with the two cities, the suit names the Brea Police Department, Police Chief William C. Lentini, Detective James Griffen and several officers as defendants.

The attorney for the mother of a Yorba Linda teen slain after working as an informant for the Brea Police Department said Monday that filing a legal claim--a precursor to a civil lawsuit--is the only choice she has to learn the truth about her son's death. Through her attorney, Cindy MacDonald stressed that the impending claim is not motivated by a desire for money. Brea Police Chief William C. Lentini did not return phone calls seeking comment Monday.