Suspect in L.A. woman’s slaying dies

An Italian charged with killing his San Pedro, Calif., girlfriend after he kidnapped their daughter has died of a heart attack on the witness stand in a Rome court, his lawyer said.

Carlo Ventre, 59, had been testifying calmly last week about the first fights he had with girlfriend Toni Dykstra, 29, when he said he did not feel well, lawyer Roberto Leonardo said.

Ventre, who had suffered a heart attack in 2002, was charged with killing Dykstra in his Rome apartment in 1998. He had pleaded not guilty, saying he acted in self-defense. Dykstra had traveled to Italy to retrieve the couple’s daughter, Santina.