> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # The year 2003: Tragic, historic and tumultuous - URL: https://www.smdp.com/the-year-2003-tragic-historic-and-tumultuous/ - Published: 2003-12-31T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T03:25:44.000Z - Author: Guest Author - Tags: Business, Santa Monica, #archive-import, Homeless *By Daily Press staff* The happenings of 2003 were of tragic proportions. In a town that usually gains notoriety for its progressive and political agendas, this summer it became notorious for one of the worst accidents on record — known by most simply as the “Farmers’ Market Tragedy.” Another national headline earlier in the year was just as bleak — a missing person’s case that turned into a widely publicized murder. And as those two stories were tragic, the governor’s recall race, and the subsequent win by local businessman and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger was just as historic. So was a multi-million dollar settlement between City Hall and oil companies that admitted they contaminated Santa Monica’s drinking water. Santa Monica struggled with a faltering economy — financial cuts were made at every turn in City Hall, the local school district, the community college and hundreds of local businesses. And although crime in Santa Monica was down, shots were fired too often in the eastside Pico neighborhood, which resulted in the city’s only homicide this year. Police responded by instituting a neighborhood-centered policing approach in a hope to end the ongoing violence. As tumultuous as it was, Santa Monicans pulled together and showed the nation what it means to be a strong community. The Santa Monica Daily Press will revisit the top 10 news stories of the year over the next two days. Today’s issue highlights the top five news stories. In Thursday’s issue, look for a list of the No. 5 through No. 10 news stories of 2003. No. 1: Summertime tragedy strikes What started out as a beautiful, sunny summer day suddenly became one of the darkest in the city’s history. It was on July 16 that then-86-year-old Russell Weller careened through a busy Farmers’ Market in downtown Santa Monica in his car, killing 10 people and injuring 63 more. The two-and-a-half block stretch looked a like a war zone — debris strewn everywhere, bodies lying in the middle of the street, people screaming, emergency workers frantically responding and helicopters swooping onto Wilshire Boulevard to take the injured to area hospitals. And as the dead were covered and the depth of the tragedy sunk in, the skies opened up and a rare summer downpour added another layer of sorrow that seemed to magnify the pall of the afternoon. Within two hours the clouds retreated, and the sun again emerged. Weller apparently hit the gas pedal instead of the brake after he rear-ended a car at the intersection of Fourth Street and Arizona Avenue. It was an accident of unbelievable consequences. In the days and weeks following, Santa Monica pulled together as a community by holding a series of memorials, giving people an opportunity to grieve for the injured and dead. The local business community also pitched in and raised more than $200,000 for victims and their families. After a six-month investigation, the Santa Monica Police Department recommended in December that the elderly Santa Monica resident be charged with manslaughter. The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office is currently reviewing the case. Evidence shows that Weller was traveling at an unsafe speed, which was ruled the primary cause of the accident. Of the more than 200 witnesses, no one reported seeing Weller’s car brake lights illuminate. His Buick Le Sabre finally stopped as a result of rolling friction and the objects trapped beneath it — including a body, the final fatality. There were more than 100 collisions during the incident. Weller, reportedly in poor health, has remained secluded in his home north of Montana Avenue since the accident. The Department of Motor Vehicles suspended his driver’s license, and the remaining years of his life are likely to be spent in turmoil as pending civil litigation and expected criminal court proceedings linger. City Hall has also become a target in litigation, as the assets of Weller, a retired wholesale grocer, are likely to be easily exhausted. No. 2: Largest court settlement for city on record This month marked the end of a seven-year legal battle between three giant oil companies and City Hall. Orange County Superior Court Judge Stephen J. Sunvold approved a $300 million settlement between Shell Oil Company, ChevronTexaco and Exxon Mobil, all of which admitted to polluting the city’s water supply. The settlement is valued at $312.85 million, which includes a commitment to provide the city with a new water treatment facility, as well as $92.5 million in cash. A new treatment facility, the first of its kind, will be built specifically to clean up the city’s water at the Charnock Well Field in West LA, the city’s main water source. The settlement ensures that the oil companies will pay for all costs to construct, operate and maintain the treatment plant, which officials expect will clean the city’s water supply by 2008. City Hall’s lawsuit was levied against 18 oil companies and manufacturers in 2000\. Since then, City Hall has negotiated more than $18 million aside from the major settlement with the three companies. The settlements include Union Oil Company (UNOCAL) for $5 million and ConocoPhillips, on behalf of its subsidiary, Tosco, for $6 million. City Hall previously settled with Atlantic Richfield (ARCO) for $9.75 million, Ultramar for $4.5 million and Conoco for $4 million. No date has been set yet by the court for the trial between the city and Lyondell, but it’s expected that it will be sometime early next year. Dozens of cities throughout the country are currently battling with oil companies because of MTBE contamination. Before Santa Monica’s settlement, the largest pay out relating to MTBE was in Lake Tahoe for $69 million. It was discovered in 1996 that Santa Monica’s water supply was contaminated by MTBE, a gasoline additive designed to boost fuel performance and reduce emissions. City officials were able to cut off the water supply before it reached residents, but seven of the wells had to be shut down. The oil companies have since then been buying imported water to supply about half of the 12 million-plus gallons of water used by residents and businesses every day. It costs oil companies about $3 million each year to buy the water from the Metropolitan Water District. No. 3: Santa Monica’s only homicide Santa Monica experienced only one homicide this year, down dramatically from last year, when there were seven. Authorities haven’t charged anyone with the murder; however, police suspect Arthur Archuletta, 21, allegedly killed his neighbor, 19-year-old Jalonnie Carter. Carter was shot in the back while he was walking in an alley east of 20th Street on Sept. 2\. Police arrested Archuletta for second-degree murder three days after. Nearly a week after his arrest, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office decided not to file charges against Archuletta on the grounds that police hadn’t gathered enough evidence. However, Archuletta remained in jail for a few more weeks on an unrelated parole violation. He was released within a month of his arrest and was living at his mother in Santa Monica. But Archuletta was arrested again by Santa Monica Police on Nov. 22, after officers found a firearm in the car in which he was riding. Archuletta was charged with being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm and parole violation. SMPD is waiting for results to come back from a crime lab to determine if the firearm found in the car Archuletta was riding in is related to any other shootings in the Los Angeles or Santa Monica areas. Archuletta had been free for only for approximately two months before he became the focus of the investigation. Archuletta, who was first convicted in Marin County in 2002 for attempting to smuggle a controlled substance into a jail, was paroled from a minimum-security prison this past July. And although Carter’s death was the only homicide this year, his eastside neighborhood has had its share of crime. Throughout the year, incidents of drive-by shootings and stray bullets have been commonplace. Police responded to close to a dozen shots-fired calls, most believed to be gang related. In some cases, people were struck by bullets, but no one was seriously injured. On May 9, a stray bullet went through two walls and hit a dresser in a bedroom of a home in the 1800 block of 17th Street. The woman who lives there with her four children brought pictures to a community meeting to show how the violence has affected her and her family. The violence continued to flare up in May and June when shots were fired in five separate incidents within a month in the Pico neighborhood. Based on its own investigation and information provided by parole and probation officers, SMPD conducted several searches within the neighborhood that resulted in the arrests of eight people for parole and probation violations. They were sent back into the prison system, and weapons were recovered in some of the searches. Although it’s unknown if any of the suspects were formally charged with the gunshots, they were taken out of the community and forced to answer to their parole and probation officers, as well as to the board of prison terms. It’s a tactic that the SMPD believes is effective and despite criticism from some in the community who say it’s unjust or unfair, police defend their policies. Shortly after the shootings this summer, residents took to the streets and demanded peace. They also have held a series of community meetings to figure out how to work with City Hall officials and police to end the violence. The SMPD continues to patrol the neighborhood, which has been plagued with gang activity and drug dealing for years, to deter more violence from occurring. SMPD Chief James T. Butts Jr. recently instituted a “Neighborhood Centered Policing” program designed to allow high-ranking officers to work closely with community members. No. 4: Hollywood homicide When a Santa Monica woman disappeared in February, the media slowly began to pick up on the story. Kristi Johnson, a 21-year-old Santa Monica College student, had left her 29th Street apartment on Feb. 15\. She said she was going to a mall to meet a man who claimed to be a photographer. The man wanted to take publicity shots for an upcoming James Bond film. Johnson never came home. More than a week into the missing person’s case, the national media picked up on the story, and Johnson’s mother, Terry Wark, did countless interviews with the hope of finding her only daughter. The Today Show, Good Morning America, FOX News, and a host of other network and cable television programs showed Johnson’s face across the country. As Santa Monica Police detectives began to investigate Johnson’s disappearance, they realized it would likely turn into a homicide case. The circumstances around her disappearance were an all-too familiar ruse used by a man whom they describe as a known predator of young women. On March 3, Johnson was found dead in the Hollywood Hills, her hands bound and her body covered in a blue sleeping bag at the bottom of a ravine. Police picked up her accused killer, Victor Paleologus, just two days after he allegedly killed Johnson when he tried to allegedly steal a car from a BMW dealership in Beverly Hills. Paleologus, 41, is charged with capital murder in the killing of Johnson, as well as six counts relating to the Beverly Hills case including identity theft, filing a false financial statement, burglary, grand theft auto, forgery and receiving stolen property. When a composite sketch was released during the search for Johnson, hundreds of calls came into the SMPD tipline, which led police to Paleologus. SMPD detectives identified Paleologus as the suspect in Johnson’s disappearance based on the women’s stories and gathered evidence linking him to the crime. Most of the women recognized Paleologus from the composite sketch, and others identified him from his picture. Police testified against Paleologus during a preliminary trial in June that laid out evidence that the prosecution says links him to the events leading up to Johnson’s disappearance. The evidence also establishes a pattern of Paleologus luring at least seven other women by posing as a publicity photographer for a James Bond movie or as an industry executive. In most cases, Paleologus asked that the women show up to the photo shoots wearing provocative clothing including black high-heel stiletto pumps, a short black mini skirt and nylons. That clothing is consistent with what Johnson was wearing when her body was found. Paleologus, who had been released from state prison just three weeks before Johnson’s disappearance, has been convicted of six felonies since 1998 ranging from grand theft to burglary to assault. Paleologus got three years probation after a jury deadlocked on charges against him in 1991 for attempted rape, assault and false imprisonment. He allegedly lured a woman into a hotel room after telling her she would meet famous people including Madonna at a party for record executives. Paleologus then allegedly tied the woman to a hotel bed and attempted to rape her, but she was able to escape. Paleologus, who has retained a high-profile defense attorney, has pleaded not guilty to the charges. His trial is expected to begin next spring. No. 5: Budget woes linger The local school district, community college and City Hall grappled with a combined $30 million shortfall in state funding. For the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, $13.7 million was hanging in the balance. In order to keep the same amount of classes being offered, school supporters rolled up their sleeves and got their hands dirty. They put a controversial parcel tax — expected to generate $6.5 million a year for the next six years — on the ballot, and two-thirds of the community voted for it. Parents and students flooded City Hall and got local politicians to hand over $2.25 million in extra funding. They also took a hard look at everything in the budget and trimmed wherever they could. Santa Monica College felt the same pain. The board of trustees there cut about $10 million from the college’s $208 million budget for this year. When all the dust had settled, enrollment was down from 31,000 to 25,000, classes were cut by 26 percent, five academic programs were pulled entirely, and hundreds of jobs for teachers, workers, administrators and students were gone. The controversy surrounding the cuts, which some students and faculty said should have been dealt with differently, led to an overwhelming vote of no confidence in Dr. Piedad F. Robertson, SMC’s president, by faculty and classified workers at the college. It also led to a handful of campus protests. For City Hall, which faced a $16.1 million deficit, this year’s shortfall in state funding meant laying off workers, trimming by 5 percent in every department — except police and fire — and putting many projects on hold indefinitely. All told, $5.4 million was cut from the general operating budget, $1.6 million from the capital improvements budget, $5.2 million in extra revenue was raised and an additional $3.9 million was saved through various policy changes. All three entities — the school district, college and City Hall — are bracing for preliminary news from Sacramento early next year about how severe the shortfall in funding will be. The good news is local schools are among the best in the state and City Hall still enjoys a very strong bond rating. In Thursday’s edition: 6\. Taxpayers bail out schools 7\. Homeless get dose of tough love 8\. Fire chief retires 9\. A total recall 10\. Homeowners batted down in election ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/123103-01_01.jpg) the aftermath of the Farmers’ Market Tragedy, 10 people were dead and another 63 injured. (Photo: File photo In) *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 31, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/123103.pdf?ref=smdp.com)