Married couple found dead in apparent murder-suicide
By Edwin Folven, 10/18/2012
Police found the bodies of a man, woman and a small dog inside an apartment in Koreatown on Monday in what investigators believe was a murder-suicide.
Officers were dispatched to the apartment at 515 S. St. Andrews Place at approximately 12:20 p.m. after a friend of the female victim checked on the married couple and saw the bodies, according to Det. Luis Carranza, with the Los Angeles Police Department’s West Bureau Homicide Unit. The victims, both 37, had not been publicly identified as of Wednesday, pending the notification of next of kin, Carranza added.
The female victim was not from the United States; however Carranza declined to specify what country she was from. He said she had been in daily contact with her family outside the United States until four days before the bodies were discovered, and her family had contacted a friend in Los Angeles to check on the couple. The motive for the shooting has not been established, but Carranza said the couple may have been having financial problems. Investigators were told by neighbors that gunshots were heard at the building last Saturday, but the exact time that the incident occurred is still under investigation, he said.
“It appears it was a murder-suicide. There is nothing to indicate it was anything else,” Carranza added. “It was just a tragic situation.”
Det. Claudia Castruita, with the West Bureau Homicide Unit, said the female victim’s dog was also shot and killed. She added that there were no signs of foul play or forced entry, but declined to divulge whether a gun was found in the apartment.
“It doesn’t appear there was an argument,” Castruita said. “Right now it is still under investigation.”
Ed Winter, a spokesperson for the L.A. County Coroner’s Office, confirmed that authorities are still in the process of notifying next of kin, and said autopsies are pending.
Anyone with information is asked to contact West Bureau homicide detectives at (213)382-9470.






