On November 20, 1964, an armed man robbed a liquor store in Pasadena, California. The store owner, Arthur Sukiasian, was forced to lie down during the holdup but saw the gunman’s face before he escaped with approximately $200. After the robbery, Sukiasian worked with police to create a composite drawing of the perpetrator.
Sukiasian viewed police mugshots and identified Claude McGill, a 29-year-old auto mechanic, as the robber. At a police station showup, Sukiasian again identified McGill as the perpetrator. McGill had been convicted of burglary in 1959 and served time in prison for that crime. Following his release, he had married and changed his name without receiving permission from his parole officer. He was in possession of false identification to support his new identity.
McGill’s robbery trial in Pasadena Superior Court began in February 1965. Deputy District Attorney Sid Cherniss prosecuted the case. Judge William E. Fox presided over the trial. Sukiasian identified McGill in the courtroom. McGill testified that he was home caring for his ill wife at the time of the robbery. His wife corroborated his alibi.
Fox found McGill guilty on February 23, 1965. He was sentenced to a term of five years to life in prison.
After McGill’s conviction, police from Council Grove, Kansas, contacted Cherniss about this case. Council Grove police had arrested 30-year-old Clifford Ronald Thompson on a vagrancy charge when Thompson confessed to the November 1964 robbery of Sukiasian’s liquor store.
Based on this new information, Judge Fox vacated McGill’s conviction, granted him a new trial, and dismissed the charge against him in early April 1965.
“It was just one of those unfortunate things that happens,” Judge Fox said after the dismissal. “I am always hesitant to convict anyone on eyewitness identification, but in this case, I was swayed by the fact that the defendant denied being McGill, had a fictitious identification card, and had been previously convicted of a felony. I just could not believe his story.”
- Meghan Barrett Cousino
Posting Date: 02-10-2026