CHARGES FILED IN '97 SLAYING IN LANCASTER.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer

A 19-year-old former stock clerk has been charged in the August 1997 slaying of a Lancaster electrician who was found shot to death by his girlfriend in their apartment bedroom.

William Hoffman could face the death penalty if convicted of killing 21-year-old Ricky Cowles Jr., who worked in his father's electrical contracting business and whose family last month offered a $10,000 reward to help solve his slaying.

``(Hoffman) waited at the victim's house,'' Deputy District Attorney Joseph Payne said. ``When the victim came home, he hit him with a hammer and shot him in the head.''

Authorities do not know the motive behind the killing.

Hoffman, who was arrested Tuesday night, had told other people within days of Cowles' slaying that he had committed the crime, Payne said. Those witnesses eventually told authorities.

``They felt guilty but didn't feel guilty enough to tell anybody right away, I suspect,'' he said. ``There were a lot of rumors. The rumors ended up identifying people that homicide (detectives) interviewed last week.''

Payne said one person who had heard rumors about the slaying did not want to talk to local authorities directly and instead called relatives in Tennessee. Police in Tennessee then contacted authorities in Lancaster about the case, he said.

Hoffman, who at the time of the killing was living in Lancaster, was arrested Tuesday night by sheriff's deputies and is scheduled to be arraigned later this week. He was charged with murder and a special circumstance of lying in wait, which would make him eligible for the death penalty.

Hoffman has no criminal record and before the slaying worked stocking shelves at a store in the Antelope Valley, Payne said. He said the two men knew each other and had mutual friends.

Sheriff's deputies said the killer was waiting for Cowles inside his apartment in the 43400 block of Gadsden Avenue on Aug. 12. Cowles arrived shortly after 9 p.m., after working late fixing lights at the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds.

His girlfriend came home an hour later and found him lying in their bedroom, shot in the head.

Family members and detectives said nothing inside the home had been touched or taken, and there were no signs of forced entry. Investigators said drugs and gangs were not involved.

With detectives stymied by a lack of cooperation from witnesses, the victim's family in March offered a $10,000 reward to anyone giving information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or people who killed Cowles.

His family distributed 3,500 fliers announcing the reward and placed two billboards along Avenue K near Sierra Highway in hopes that someone with information on his death would come forward.

It was not known Wednesday whether the reward will given to anyone.

Family members said Cowles had moved into his apartment a month earlier with his girlfriend, who was 15 weeks' pregnant at the time of his death.

His family, which owns Northway High Voltage and Line Construction Co., had volunteered to fix parking lot lights before the start of the Antelope Valley Fair.

After leaving the fairgrounds parking lot, Cowles drove to his parents' house at 9 p.m., dropped off the company vehicle and went to his apartment.

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