PATTISON HAYTON (WHO CONTROLLED HRCT) AND MURDER
A path paved in puzzles
Inland authorites say they believe Pattinson Hayton, an Australian jet-settler, is linked to the murder of a Brazilian playboy in 1997. But he was never charged. And that's only one turn in the mysterious financier's twisting trail.
pe.com
03/15/2003
By GEORGE WATSON
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE
LA QUINTA - The tale of Pattinson Hayton's life is even more mysterious than it is rich.
Some people know him as a charming corporate financier who worked and played among society's upper crust. The 52-year-old Australian filled his weekdays with high-stakes corporate deals and weekends lounging in luxurious mansions or playing pricey polo matches in La Quinta, paying bills in wads of cash he stored in a Louis Vuitton trunk.
Others paint a portrait of an aggressive businessman with an explosive temper who violated securities regulations and has been tagged with millions of dollars in judgments for misdeeds including fraud and breach of contract. Court records in at least two states indicate he doesn't discriminate: People ranging from chief executives to the electrician hired to do odd jobs at his La Quinta estate say Hayton collectively owes them millions.
Pattinson Hayton
Furthering Hayton's peculiar tale is his connection to the 1997 murder of artist Bernardo Gouthier, an international playboy and son of a Brazilian diplomat. For the past 16 months, Riverside County authorities repeatedly said in press releases, interviews and on one occasion in a courtroom that Hayton ordered the hit. The reason, they said, was jealousy: Hayton's then-estranged wife was having an affair with Gouthier.
Hayton has never been charged in the crime, even though his alleged ties to the killing came forth in a December preliminary hearing for four other men. Those defendants, one who authorities say acted as a middleman and three friends who performed the slaying, are charged with murder and go on trial in June.
But now, prosecutor Ulrich McNulty says, new information has raised some questions about the level of Hayton's involvement in Gouthier's killing.
"I have a little doubt in my mind about whether he asked (the middleman) to kill the guy, or just to take care of him," explained McNulty in a recent interview. "Maybe he ordered the hit. Maybe (the middleman) decided a killing was necessary."
Either way, the senior deputy district attorney prosecuting the case in Riverside County Superior Court in Indio said he still anticipates some charges, either by his office or a grand jury, to be brought against Hayton. Some evidence supports Hayton paid for the killing, McNulty said, while some shows Hayton merely wanted him to be assaulted.
Until recently, Hayton had never spoken publicly about the case. In fact, reaching him has been difficult even for his family because he has been traveling in Europe, according to a relative. But on Thursday, Hayton responded after several recent requests for comment from The Press-Enterprise. He would only say the case "is a travesty of justice."
A longtime friend of Hayton's found it difficult to fathom that he could have someone killed. Claire Bertanyi, who said she was Hayton's confidante during his divorce, described Hayton as brilliant and debonair, and yet, the sort of man who cried when speaking about his love for his children.
"I never saw a violent side of him, a cruel side of him," said Bertanyi, 33, of Ventura County. "He was a very happy man until (the divorce). Then he was sad, but not violent."
For more than a year now, Riverside County sheriff's deputies have tried to connect Hayton to the men they say killed Gouthier with four bullets from a .25-caliber automatic pistol outside the victim's home in La Quinta.
In addition to tapping phones, they pored through court records and sifted through bank statements, which is how in a Dec. 4 preliminary hearing for the four defendants they said they linked Hayton to Jerry E. Reynolds, a 47-year-old Indio man who once bailed Hayton out of jail.
One piece of evidence leading authorities to believe Hayton ordered the hit came when investigators tapped the middleman's phone. In that conversation, Reynolds told his father-in-law that "he was a go-between in the homicide," said Sgt. Carl Carter during the preliminary hearing.
Detectives found two wire transfers totaling more than $10,000 in Reynolds' bank account from accounts controlled by Hayton, authorities said. Eventually, they found another tie between Hayton and Reynolds. Both possessed famous pieces of clown art painted by the late comedian Red Skelton, which had been stolen from a home, McNulty said.
The difficulty for McNulty has been finding evidence that is admissible in a courtroom.
"All the evidence has come from a co-defendant," McNulty said. "And the law prohibits you from using one defendant's testimony against another co-defendant."
One of the defendants implicated Hayton in the crime when he admitting killing Gouthier, according to Sgt. Jorge Pinon. Jesse Dean Nava, the alleged shooter, said Reynolds told him that Hayton wanted him to take a gold watch and ring from Gouthier, but he fled before finding them, Pinon said in the preliminary hearing.
The case could hinge upon Reynolds. Reynolds hired the hit men and later tried to kill himself by drinking cough syrup as detectives closed in for the arrest, investigators said in the preliminary hearing. No deal has been agreed upon for Reynolds' testimony against Hayton, McNulty said.
None may be coming, either. McNulty believes he has an excellent case against Reynolds that includes committing murder for financial gain. The way McNulty sees it, he can put Reynolds in prison for life. How will it look to a jury if he gives Reynolds too lenient a deal?
All four attorneys representing the defendants declined to comment on the case. The four: Reynolds, Nava, 22, of Bermuda Dunes, Michael Marohn, 22, and Mario Gonzales, 23, both of Indio, all pleaded not guilty to the murder charge and are each being held on $500,000 bail.
Investigators interviewed Hayton a day after Gouthier's slaying at his La Quinta Sculpture Park on Oct. 25, 1997. He came across as believable, McNulty said.
But as pieces of the puzzling case tumbled into place, investigators began to suspect Hayton, McNulty said. They want to interview him again, he said, but cannot force him to speak.
"There's plenty of evidence that says that Pat Hayton hired Jerry Reynolds to do this," McNulty said. "Would it be nice if Pat Hayton sat down in Palm Desert to talk to us? Of course. Do I expect him to do that? No."
Initially suspected
At the time of Gouthier's death, investigators say, Hayton's ex-wife, Kathy Barr, recently had moved into the artist's sprawling La Quinta property. Barr, 33, and Hayton were then involved in a nasty divorce.
In court documents, Barr said she gave Gouthier's address to her husband a few days before the attack. On Oct. 24, 1997, Hayton's attorney faxed a letter to Barr's attorney with a warning. It alleged that Gouthier engaged in illegal acts involving art and drugs and she should refrain from staying in his house with their two children because their lives could be in danger.
Gouthier was shot less than 24 hours later. Barr was not home at the time of the shooting. Neither were the children, a teenage daughter and her younger brother, who spent the weekend with Hayton.
Barr and the artist's caretaker found Gouthier's body several hours after the killing.
Four days afterward, Barr filed a document in her divorce case in which she stated: "I am not convinced that (Hayton) played no role in the murder . . ." Barr included a letter from Gouthier's attorney, who said his client had never been accused of any illicit activity.
Gouthier's death drew international attention to the Coachella Valley. The Brazilian media came in force because the 42-year-old international playboy was considered Brazil's equivalent of John F. Kennedy Jr.
Playing the part
Hayton has spent years mastering the art of impressing people so much that they let down their guard, according to court documents and interviews with a few dozen former associates, most of who asked to remain anonymous. Much of his success comes down to attitude and a flaunting of wealth, they say.
Hayton is tall, at least 6 feet, 4 inches, with a deep voice, blue eyes and thick brown hair. By all accounts, he is a handsome man who despite a fondness for cigars and cognac kept a chiseled frame by playing polo and working out with a personal trainer. Despite all of his years living in the states, his gentle voice maintained its Australian accent.
Divorce records show the Haytons lived lavishly. Barr did not work and had a full-time nanny caring for the couple's children. Hayton financed a polo team with 28 horses and paid his players' salaries. An accountant hired by Barr during the divorce case estimated their average monthly expenses exceeded $42,000 in 1995 and 1996. During that time, they spent nearly $50,000 on clothes, $37,000 for entertainment, $13,000 on travel and $7,000 on Christmas, the accountant found.
When it came to business, Hayton displayed an intelligence and work ethic that made people wonder why he ever involved himself in illegitimate practices.
"He's a likable person, and that's what's so dangerous," said Lloyd Lecuona, a South African businessman.
The Securities and Exchange Commission says Lecuona played an important role in the agency's most recent investigation of Hayton, which resulted in a fine and an injunction against the Australian for defrauding investors.
Hayton rattled off names of Australian winemakers, cattlemen in Argentina and coffee growers in Costa Rica. He always seemed to be zipping off to Hong Kong or Vancouver, and he always flew first class.
When arriving for meetings and presentations, Hayton often emerged from a stretch limo. No one could remember him driving, although he owned a fleet of expensive cars. Over a five-year stretch, court records show, he owned a Rolls Royce, Bentley Turbo, Porsche, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Range Rover and two pickups.
His La Quinta estate totaled 6,400 square feet and was made of natural stones and glass blocks. Water flowed from a fountain in the foyer, through the living area and into a 50-foot pool, which appeared to spill into a lake separating the home from the golf course.
Hayton was a connoisseur of the best life had to offer, former associates say, and when people saw him wheeling and dealing, they wanted to consume that lifestyle, too.
Catching clues
But there were hints of trouble behind the facade. Despite his gregarious nature, Hayton had a temper, said many who know him. And that gentle voice had a tendency to be profane.
In court documents, Barr listed several examples of violence, instances in which he threw her laptop computer against a wall or hurled a wine glass at her.
In June 1997, four months before Gouthier died, a sheriff's deputy arrested Hayton after Barr said Hayton slammed a door on her leg, court records show. The deputy reported that Hayton went on an expletive-filled rant, screaming about "Bernardo," apologizing to the officer and then crying, records show.
Reynolds, the alleged middleman, later bailed out Hayton from jail, authorities say. Hayton was never charged with a crime.
There were problems related to the La Quinta home, court records show. Hayton rented the home for $25,000 per month and got sued by the owner, who claimed Hayton failed to pay. The matter was settled after Hayton paid an undisclosed amount to the owner.
Not even his then-wife had a clue how much money her husband possessed. Barr tabulated monthly expenses and reported the amount to Hayton. He would deposit enough to cover the total "and some extra for me," she stated in divorce records. She also said she once found a box filled with files, some showing millions of dollars being paid to Hayton.
Barr's accountant in the divorce case said it was impossible to track Hayton's funds because he had several offshore tax-friendly accounts.
When he traveled, Hayton seemed to take everything he owned. There were the many suitcases, the garment bags and the Louis Vuitton trunk. Lecuona accompanied Hayton on a business trip to Costa Rica and recalled him spending more than $10,000 in cash over a weekend, all pulled from the trunk.
SEC allegations
The SEC suit that resulted in the injunction said Hayton has "an extensive history of securities violations and encounters with domestic and foreign regulatory authorities."
In November, a U.S. District Court judge in Santa Ana ordered Hayton to pay $328,000 and barred him from serving as an officer or director of any publicly held company.
The court found that Hayton made numerous false claims about a company, Tradamax Group Inc., which resulted in him pumping up the company's stock price and selling $114,000 in shares. The court said Hayton hid his position as chief executive of Tradamax because of his past securities violations.
Essentially, Tradamax was a shell company purporting to have the ability to trade goods like coffee, cocoa and grain on the Internet, but whose sole product was pumping out information to stimulate investor interest, said Michael MacPhail, the deputy assistant director at the SEC's Denver office. The term for Hayton's alleged indiscretions is "pump and dump."
According to court records, Hayton issued false press releases and used the fictitious online screen name "wongfunds," pretending to be a Hong Kong investor named Thomas on an Internet chat site.
"Web sites and Internet touters stated Tradamax would achieve revenues of $250 to $285 million in 2001 and $600 million in 2002, with net profits between $15 million and $36 million," according to the SEC's investigation.
"These projections lacked a reasonable basis because among other things, Tradamax has received no revenues to date, is in the developmental stage, and the projections are explicitly expected to be derived from -- a technology that Tradamax does not possess," the investigation reported.
MacPhail said Hayton is a repeat offender, the type of person the SEC actively targets.
"This is a guy who makes a career out of being a crook," MacPhail said.
Millions in judgments
Additionally, there are civil judgments across the country ordering Hayton to pay at least $8 million. He mentioned the total in divorce papers he filed in 1997, saying "the majority of the $8 million in claims resulted from frivolous lawsuits, which I could not afford to defend . . ."
It's unclear whether anyone has been paid in the judgments.
Dave Wallace, a Florida attorney, said he tried and failed to collect a $700,000 judgment against Hayton several years ago. In his attempt to recoup the money, he said he discovered Hayton had two Social Security numbers. He also ended up being sued by Hayton, a case he said was later dropped.
"He always seems to stay one step ahead of everyone," Wallace said.
Electrician Alfred Bates says Hayton owes him $900 for installing high-end dimmers and other electrical controls at the La Quinta home. He filed a small claims suit a few years back, which he won when Hayton didn't show up for the trial. But he hasn't been paid.
"I guess I won't be seeing anything," Bates said. "It sounds like there's a long line in front of me."
Reach George Watson at (909) 368-9457 or gwatson@pe.com |
