Suspect in jewelry store killing makes first court appearance

Monday, Sept. 8, 2003 | 9:28 a.m.

The jewelry repairman arrested in the brutal beating of his employers at a downtown jewelry store made his first appearance Friday in Justice Court.

Avetis Archanian, 45, was scheduled to be arraigned before Justice of the Peace William Jansen, but the arraignment was postponed until Sept. 18 at the request of defense attorneys.

Archanian's attorney, Mace Yampolsky, said he believes his client is innocent but he needed more time to look into the case before going forward with the arraignment.

"This all happened very quickly," he said. "We need to do further investigation."

Archanian faces six felony charges in the attack at the World Merchants-Importers jewelry store that left 86-year-old Juana Maria Quiroga dead and her 64-year-old daughter, Elisa Del Prado, comatose. Del Prado remained in critical condition today at University Medical Center, officials said.

The charges against Archanian include murder, attempted murder, robbery and burglary, all with use of a deadly weapon. He also faces a grand larceny charge.

Archanian, who speaks Armenian, listened to Friday's brief court proceedings with the assistance of an Armenian-speaking, court-appointed interpreter, Yampolsky said.

Police say surveillance cameras in the store taped Archanian beating Quiroga in the doorway of the store's repair room before sweeping about $200,000 worth of jewelry into a leather satchel.

Archanian had been repairing jewelry at the store for the past three months, but became a permanent fixture in the store about three weeks ago, the victims' family members said.

Archanian had come highly recommended by a family friend, they said. Relatives of the victims were in the courtroom for Friday's hearing.