Stephen Hill, Porn Actor Wanted for Sword Slaying, Dies After Jumping Off Cliff, Say Cops
LOS ANGELES (CBS/KCAL) Stephen Hill, the porn actor suspected of killing a colleague with a sword, has died after jumping from a rocky hillside in Chatsworth, Calif. during a standoff with police.
SWAT officers say they spent part of the afternoon Saturday trying to talk the 34-year-old down from the hill as he clutched a sword.
Police Officer Bruce Borihanh says a "less than lethal munition" was used against Hill just before his jump, according to CBS affiliate KCAL. Video of the incident showed Hill moving to the edge of the outcropping from a seated position then letting himself drop as police closed in on him.
Borihanh says the actor fell some 40 feet.
Hill fled to the Chatsworth neighborhood hillside after leaving a house where he was barricaded for most of Saturday.
It was unknown whether the sword was the murder weapon in Tuesday's deadly attack at the Ultima DVD production center that also left two people injured.
Hill, whose professional name is Steve Driver, is suspected of killing 30-year-old colleague Herbert Hin Wong, and wounding two other people. He was charged Friday with one count of murder and five counts of attempted murder.
The charges were filed after Eric Jover, who runs Ultima DVD, offered a $2,000 reward on the company's website for information leading to the arrest of Hill.
Jover said he was present during the attack, but declined to disclose details to KCAL.
Ultima DVD's website contains a tribute to Wong, who police said was killed when he tried to save another victim after the violence erupted at a small social gathering at the studio.
Investigators said Hill went on the rampage after being told he was being fired and would have to move out of the production facility where he had been living.
The small company is located in the San Fernando Valley, known in the adult film industry as Porn Valley for its large number of porn businesses.