Manager of Rock Bands Fatally Shot at His Office

A manager of rock bands was shot in the back and killed as he and his former wife locked up his office in Los Alamitos, police said Thursday. The unknown killer remains at large.

David Sterling, 36, was standing at the front door of Sterling Entertainment Inc., 10541 Bloomfield St., about 10:35 p.m. Wednesday when two or more shots were fired, said Sgt. James Jessen. Sterling’s wife, Kathy, was the only witness. She could not be reached for comment. Police said she was not injured.

Police Thursday were searching for a motive in the slaying. Lt. Gary Biggerstaff said Sterling’s former wife did not see who shot him.

“It was a shot in the dark,” he said. “She apparently didn’t see anything. We have no other information at this time.”

Sterling managed rock bands and planned to produce videos and records at his fledgling company.

Autopsy Results Withheld

After the shots, he staggered back into the office, where he collapsed and died.

An autopsy was conducted Thursday morning but police would not release the results. It was the first slaying in Los Alamitos since July, 1976.

By Thursday afternoon, detectives were back at the scene to rope off and search a section of the parking lot where the killer is believed to have lain in wait for Sterling. A Ford Pinto and two trucks were examined, but police remained silent on a possible motive.

Sterling was a new tenant in the business park north of Katella Avenue, and few of his neighbors had met him. Said Keith Parmelee, co-owner of Max Way Music, “He’d only been here a few weeks. I’d just gone over to introduce myself, but I don’t know much about him.”

An account executive with a record industry magazine in Hollywood said a party to celebrate the opening of Sterling’s business had been planned for next Sunday night and Sterling had mailed invitations to various people in the music industry. “We heard about it this morning,” said Gary Shay of Music Connection magazine. “We’re all very sad.”

Photographs of two of Sterling’s clients, singer Darryle Grant and the rock group Planet, hung on the wall of the reception area as detectives gathered evidence Thursday. On the brown carpet below, a chalk outline of a man’s body and a small spattering of blood were the only signs of violence.