CON MAN ALIVE, WITNESS SAYS : WOMAN TESTIFIES THAT BILLIONAIRE BOYS CLUB FOUNDER'S VICTIM SEEN LATER.

Byline: Janet Gilmore Daily News Staff Writer

Billionaire Boys Club founder Joe Hunt went to prison for the 1984 murder of Beverly Hills con man Ron Levin, but a woman testified Monday that she saw Levin - alive and well - in Greece in 1987.

``I thought to myself, my God, I know this person,'' Connie Gerrard said. ``I know that I saw Ron Levin. He looked tall, slim, the same, immaculately dressed.''

Gerrard was the first witness called by Hunt, 36, in his latest bid to get a new trial.

Hunt and his lawyers hope to spend the next few weeks convincing a judge that Levin is alive and skipped town to avoid criminal prosecution and mounting debt.

Levin disappeared in June 1984, and his body was never found. Hunt, who grew up in the San Fernando Valley, was sentenced to life in prison without parole after a jury convicted him of killing Levin.

An appellate court ruled that Hunt was entitled to a hearing for a new trial.

Wearing Los Angeles County jail blues to court, Hunt smiled at his wife, who was seated in the court audience, and he occasionally whispered suggestions to his attorneys. At one point, before the first witness was called, he joined in his attorneys' failed bid to postpone the hearing.

``I think there are additional factors that the court should consider,'' Hunt said from his seat at the defense table. ``I think my counsel needs a couple of months. . . . I'm asking the court to be fair to me.''

But Superior Court Judge Stephen Czuleger, who had previously granted months of delays, declined the requests and told attorneys to take up any remaining concerns with the Court of Appeal.

The attorneys, who contend the judge is biased, say they plan to ask that Czuleger remove himself from the case.

On the witness stand, Gerrard, who had known Levin through her son-in-law's work, testified that she saw Levin while visiting a Greek island on a rainy Christmas Day in 1987.

Gerrard said she was in a small restaurant when she saw Levin and another man enter, sit down and talk about their plans to linger inside the restaurant and savor a fine bottle of wine.

But when Levin eventually passed by her table, she said, he recognized her and abruptly decided to leave.

``When Mr. Levin saw me, his facial expression changed,'' Gerrard said. ``His face got kind of whitish. I saw the recognition on his face.''

Gerrard said she did not say anything to Levin because she surmised that he was ``on the lam'' and didn't want to be spotted.

Indicating possible bias, Gerrard acknowledged that her husband had done pool construction work for a man who once provided bail for Hunt. And when Czuleger asked her if she liked Levin, she said ``at first,'' until she learned that he had lied about such things as being an attorney.

Oliver Holmes, another witness who had known Levin for years, testified Monday that Levin had passed himself off as a Harvard-trained lawyer, a physician and the head of a business called Network News.

Months before Levin disappeared, Holmes said, local police were investigating allegations that Levin had fraudulently acquired lights, cameras, computers and other equipment needed in the TV news business.

During that time, Holmes said, Levin had also told him he had researched extradition policies between the United States and Brazil as part of a story he was exploring involving some bank robbers who fled to Brazil.

The day before Levin's disappearance, Holmes said, Levin indicated he was planning to go to New York on an apparent pleasure trip with a friend. Levin had also asked Holmes, on that day, to return his house key.

Hunt had turned to Levin when looking for a way to make up for the financial losses incurred when his BBC get-rich-quick schemes soured. As leader of the BBC, Hunt recruited young men from some of the most prominent families in Los Angeles, using their money to finance a luxurious lifestyle.

Five months after Levin's disappearance, Hunt's chief lieutenant in the BBC, Dean Karny, went to the police and agreed to testify against Hunt in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

A Santa Monica jury convicted Hunt of murdering Levin, based largely on the strength of Karny's detailed testimony and seven pages of notes in Hunt's handwriting - found in Levin's apartment - that included a ``to do'' list with such items as ``Tape mouth, Close blinds, Handcuff - put gloves on . . . kill dog.''

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Photo: Joe Hunt, convicted of murdering Beverly Hills con a rtist Ron Levin in 1984, was refused a hearing postponement Monday by the judge.

Phil McCarten/Daily News