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Porn actor jumps off cliff after samurai sword murder
A porn actor wanted for allegedly murdering a co-worker with a
samurai-style sword died after jumping from a cliff edge following a
standoff with Los Angeles police, police said.Stephen Hill
plunged around 50 feet off a sheer rock face after being stunned with a
Taser by Los Angeles Police Department officers who had been negotiating
with him for several hours.Television footage of the incident
showed Hill scrambling off the edge of the cliff feet first as police
moved in after stunning him.“He jumped down off the cliff after
he was Tased,” LAPD spokesman Bruce Borihanh said. Whether Hill died
from being Tasered, the fall or possibly landing on the sword he was
armed with was under investigation, Borihanh said.Hill was wanted
for one count of murder and five counts of attempted murder after
attacking colleagues at a pornographic film distribution company
warehouse in Los Angeles on Tuesday.Saturday’s
dramatic denouement began when police received a tip-off that Hill had
been spotted at a property in the San Fernando Valley.Hill was
discovered at the property and was subsequentely cornered by officers at
the edge of a steep cliff near the house, where he had threatened to
kill himself, police said.Local media initially reported that
Hill was in police custody and being treated by paramedics.Television
footage had earlier showed the actor holding a samurai sword and
shouting at police to keep their distance.Hill, who has appeared
in several porn films under the stage name “Steve Driver,” is alleged to
have murdered fellow actor Herbert Wong at the warehouse-style offices
of Ultima DVD on Tuesday.Wong, who had appeared in two films with
Hill under the name “Tom Dong,” died as he tried to help other staff to
escape, the company’s owner said.Hill’s rampage appeared to have
been triggered by the discovery that he was about to be fired and
evicted from the office where he had been living, according to local
media reports.