Boyfriend Is Sought for Questioning In Death of Battered Anaheim Woman

The kidney-shaped swimming pool shimmered undisturbed Monday, and the miniature volleyball net and basketball hoop lay unused in Lianne Lando’s Anaheim backyard. The yard was to have been the setting for one of Lando’s frequent pool parties Saturday afternoon.

That party, which was intended to celebrate the birthday of one of Lando’s friends, never got under way. Instead, three guests who arrived at the house about 3 p.m. found their hostess’ severely battered body in the bathroom of her white stucco home. Police said Monday that they are seeking Lando’s boyfriend for questioning in connection with the 38-year-old woman’s death.

Sgt. John Haradon refused to release the name of the man, who he said had lived at the house with Lando since June 1. Another roommate, Dawn Lefler, was visiting relatives in Oregon when Lando’s death occurred, Haradon said.

Coroner’s deputies said they still did not know the exact cause of Lando’s death and are awaiting tests to determine if it was drug related. She did not appear to have been sexually molested, Haradon said.

Lando’s neighbors said the low-slung, ranch-style house at 2209 Midwood Lane was the scene of frequent parties.

“They used to have parties every Friday and Saturday night, and people used to drink,” said Manuel Tafoya, 21, whose father’s property adjoins the house Lando and her roommates rented.

“Friday night, late, I heard everybody laughing,” said Tafoya’s mother, Eva Concino. “Then nobody was there on Saturday. We were wondering what had happened; it was really quiet.”

A next-door neighbor, Carlos Arreola, said he did not know Lando or her roommates personally, but that they and people at their parties “used to fight a lot and say a lot of bad words.”

He said the incident had frightened his family, which includes his father, a brother and five sisters.

“My sisters were real scared; we always leave the door open,” Arreola said. “Now we don’t feel safe.”

Haradon said Lando’s death did not appear to be related to the strangulation of 20-year-old Anaheim resident Catherine Tameny, whose nude body was found in her bed Aug. 5, or to more than a dozen unsolved murders of Los Angeles County residents feared to have been committed by a killer who strikes at night in people’s homes.