ATTORNEY: COPS BOTCHED PROBE OF MISSING WIFE RACZ'S LAWYER SAYS THERE'S NO EVIDENCE OF A SLAYING.

Byline: ALEX DOBUZINSKIS

Staff Writer

SAN FERNANDO -- Police botched their investigation into the disappearance of John Racz's wife 16 years ago, leaving no evidence to prove he murdered her, his attorney told a jury Friday.

In his closing argument in Racz's murder trial in San Fernando Superior Court, Philip Israels also sought to convince the jury that his client didn't have enough time on April 22, 1991, to kill her and dispose of her body.

Ann Mineko Racz, whose body was never found, could have disappeared on her own, Israels said, adding that detectives never followed up on leads that could have exonerated his client.

"What happened is they came to a theory so early on, they pointed the finger at John Racz so early on that they didn't follow up," Israels said.

Prosecutors say Racz, 61, of Valencia, a former sheriff's sergeant who was a teacher when his wife disappeared, killed her to avoid losing money in a pending divorce, and out of anger over her extramarital affair.

Israels countered with a list of several leads police failed to look into, such as reviewing surveillance video at Los Angeles International Airport.

Racz said his wife called him collect on Friday, April 26, 1991, to say she was going away. Investigators traced the call to LAX but later concluded Racz placed the call himself to his own home to create a phone record supporting his story.

Israels faulted detectives for not asking LAX officials for surveillance video from April 26 to see if Ann Racz was there, or if John Racz was there.

Earlier in the trial, a retired homicide investigator testified that he checked flight manifests for that day and did not find Ann Racz's name on any of them.

Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman concluded her closing arguments Friday morning after taking all of Thursday with them.

As she did in opening statements, Silverman focused on inconsistent statements Racz made after his wife disappeared, arguing they reveal the lies he used to cover up his wife's killing.

"Now it's your job to do justice in this case," Silverman told the jurors. "He's been enjoying his life for the last 16 years. He's been enjoying his money while his wife lies in an unmarked grave somewhere."

Israels, in between taking verbal swipes at the high-tech tools prosecutors used to aid their arguments, sought to undercut their portrayal of the victim as a model mother.

While witnesses who knew her testified she was devoted to her children and never would have abandoned them, Israels argued she was less than perfect.

He suggested that after moving out from the family's Valencia home with the children, she might have decided to take off on her own.

"The same person who left her husband and kids in 1989 to go to Europe, and in 1990 to go to Hawaii," Israels said. "Was that a test for John to see if he could handle the kids alone?"

Israels finished his closing arguments Friday, leaving prosecutors to conclude their rebuttal Monday before the jury gets the case.

alex.dobuzinskis(at)dailynews.com

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