Man Slain, Wife Assaulted by Diamond Bar Intruder

A Diamond Bar man was shot to death and his wife assaulted by an intruder who invaded their home early this morning, and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s investigators said the couple may have been the victims of the same man sought in a series of slayings and assaults in the San Gabriel and San Fernando valleys.

Responding to a 4 a.m. emergency call, deputies found Elyas Abowatch, 35, dead from a head wound in the home in the 21000 block of Pinehill Lane.

Abowatch’s wife, Sakina, 28, was treated at a nearby hospital for minor injuries and released. The couple’s two sons, aged 3 and 3 months, were unhurt, officers said.

Sheriff Sherman Block said the case has been assigned to a countywide law enforcement task force probing the series of killings and attacks.

At a news conference in his office, Block said up to 25 county residents have been killed or assaulted in their homes since March. The attacker entered the homes through opened doors or unlocked windows.

“It appears that the person responsible for these acts (in Diamond Bar) this morning may be the person involved in similar incidents, primarily in the San Gabriel Valley,” Block said.

Of the attacks under investigation, the task force has linked six slayings, Block said.

“In all of the half dozen of those cases, we have seen similarities that lead us to believe the same person or persons is responsible,” the sheriff said.

The Sheriff’s Department is urging residents to take care in securing their homes. Story, Part II, Page 1.