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Porn actor sought in slaying dies in cliff fall

2010-06-07 09:10

Porn actor sought in slaying dies in cliff fall
In this June 5, 2010 photo, Stephen Clancy Hill, 34, a porn actor suspected of fatally stabbing a former co-worker and wounding two others during a violent rampage threatens to kill himself with a samurai sword as Los Angeles Police Department SWAT team members and crisis counselors attempt to keep him from jumping off a cliff during a dramatic, daylong standoff in Chatsworth, Calif. Saturday afternoon. [Agencies]

LOS ANGELES -- A porn actor suspected of killing a colleague died Saturday after falling some 40 feet (12 meters) from a rocky hillside after a standoff with police, officials said.

A "less than lethal munition" was used against Stephen Clancy Hill just before his fall, said police officer Bruce Borihanh, who had no other details about the weapon that was used.

KABC-TV video of the incident showed Hill moving to the edge of the outcropping from a seated position and then letting himself drop as police closed in on him.

Porn actor sought in slaying dies in cliff fall
This undated picture provided by the Los Angeles Police Department on Wednesday, June 2, 2010 shows Stephen Hill. [Agencies]

SWAT officers had spent part of Saturday afternoon trying to talk Hill down from the hillside as he clutched a sword.

It was unknown whether the sword was the murder weapon in Tuesday's deadly attack at a DVD production center that also left two people injured.

Hill, 34, fled to the hillside after leaving a house where he was barricaded for most of Saturday.

Murder and attempted murder charges had been filed against Hill on Friday after Eric Jover, who runs the Ultima DVD production house, offered a $2,000 reward on the company's website for information leading to his arrest.

Hill attacked a colleague with a sword that was used as a film prop during a social gathering at Ultima's studios about a week after being told he was being fired and that he would have to move out of the production facility, where he had been living, authorities said.

He then turned on two others who rushed to their co-worker's defense. One of those who attempted to help, Herbert Hin Wong, 30, was killed in the attack.

Hill, whose professional name is Steve Driver, fled in an SUV with the murder weapon, authorities said.

Ultima is located in the San Fernando Valley, known in the adult film industry as Porn Valley for its large number of porn businesses. The small company produces niche films featuring fetishes and sexual domination of men.

Hill was convicted of second-degree assault and a handgun charge in March 1999 in Maryland, according to court records.

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