Refugees Ordered Tried in Activist’s Death : Pair Accused of Robbing, Murdering Woman Who Had Helped Them

Two Estonian refugees were ordered Wednesday to stand trial in the death of an Estonian activist who died after she was stabbed and bludgeoned in her North Hollywood home.

Tauno Waidla, 20, and Peter Sakarias, 21, are charged with murder in the July 12 slaying of Viivi Piirisild, 52, a radio broadcaster and writer. They are also charged with robbing the Goodland Avenue home and San Bernardino County mountain cabin of Piirisild and her husband. If convicted, they could be sentenced to death.

Members of the Estonian community in Southern California have said that Waidla and Sakarias deserted the Soviet army in 1986.

The two men were granted refugee status and arrived in New York in January, 1987. They came to Los Angeles in late 1987.

Avo Piirisild testified Tuesday that he and his wife provided Waidla a place to stay when he arrived in California in exchange for work around their house. He testified that Waidla helped renovate their home and accompanied them on visits to their cabin.

In late May or early June, Waidla demanded that the Piirisilds either give him a sports car they owned or $3,000, saying that that he would report them for building an unlawful addition to their home if they did not accede, Avo Piirisild testified. Soon afterward, Viivi Piirisild ordered Waidla out of the couple’s house, he testified.

Business Trip

Avo Piirisild left the state on a business trip July 11. He testified that he became worried when no one answered his repeated telephone calls to his home between July 12 and July 14. On July 14, a family friend went to the Piirisild house to check on Viivi Piirisild and found her dead.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Meredith Rust said Viivi Piirisild was attacked after coming home from a 10 a.m. dentist appointment July 12. “Evidence suggests that she was struck almost as soon as she entered through the door,” Rust said.

No weapons were found, but authorities think a hatchet and knife were used in the slaying, Rust said. Detective David Crews of the Los Angeles Police Department said he found Viivi Piirisild’s body on the floor of her bedroom with “numerous wounds in the chest area, face and head.” The walls, furniture and ceiling of the bedroom were splattered with blood, he said.

A coroner’s report said that Viivi Piirisild died of multiple trauma to the head and chest, and that she had been choked.

Defense attorneys argued Monday that there is insufficient evidence to link the two men to Viivi Piirisild’s death.

Waidla is linked to the killing and robberies only by thumbprints left on a door lock that he installed 4 to 5 weeks before Viivi Piirisild’s body was found, his attorney, Martin R. Gladstein, said. Deputy Public Defender Dan Blum, who represented Sakarias, suggested that Viivi Piirisild may have been killed when she surprised a burglar.

The two men, who had gone to Canada, were arrested in August by U.S. Border Patrol agents as they to crossed from Canada into New York, authorities said.