Fullerton Store Owner Held in Shooting of Wife and Lawyer

Fullerton police arrested a 44-year-old store owner after he allegedly shot his wife and critically wounded her attorney while they attempted to audit the store’s records.

Lt. Lawrence Lewis said Victor Pahl of La Habra Heights was arrested in connection with the shootings at Pahl’s Orange County Pawn Brokers shop, 103 S. Harbor Blvd., Fullerton.

The attorney, William (Murphy) Swain, 29, of Fullerton, was shot at least three times and was in critical condition in UCI Medical Center.

The wife, Deanna Pahl, 24, who also received a gunshot wound, was in serious condition in the medical center, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Swain had obtained a court order to allow him to inspect the pawn shop’s inventory and financial records, Lewis said.

According to Swain’s roommate, Charles Tourdot, of Fullerton, the Pahls were in the middle of a divorce.

Tourdot said Swain visited the pawn shop last Friday and was returning to check the records Monday about 10 a.m. when he and the woman were shot.

Tourdot said a bullet struck Swain in the upper left thigh, another hit his forearm and traveled to the upper arm, and a third bullet struck him in the abdomen.

“Apparently, he was hit as he walked in the door,” Tourdot said.

Swain passed the State Bar in 1982 and had concentrated mostly on marriage dissolutions, Tourdot said.

The motive for the shootings is under investigation, Lewis said.

Pahl was arrested at the shop and taken into custody without incident. He is being held in lieu of $750,000 bail at Orange County Jail, Lewis said.