Man, Woman Hunted in 3 Pizza Chain Slayings : Suspects in Glendale Killing Linked to 2 Deaths, Robbery in South Carolina

A man and woman suspected of robbing and killing a 21-year-old pizza deliveryman in Glendale early Tuesday are also being sought in connection with a double murder and robbery last week at a South Carolina restaurant in the same pizza chain, police said Wednesday.

Police are seeking Mitchell Carlton Sims, 25, and Ruby Padgett, 20, both suspects in the murder of Domino’s Pizza deliveryman John Steven Harrigan, whose body was found in a room at the Regal Lodge in downtown Glendale early Tuesday. Police believe the pair lured Harrigan to their room, robbed and killed him and then went to the pizza restaurant in Glendale, where they stole $2,000 and left two employees bound hand and foot.

Police said Sims, who worked as a cook at a Domino’s Pizza in Hanahan, S.C., is wanted in connection with the shooting deaths of two fellow employees at that restaurant Dec. 3. Hanahan police investigators flew to Los Angeles Tuesday after a Domino’s Pizza security investigator connected the two cases.

Sims is believed to have shot and killed Gary Dean Melke and Christopher Leroy Zerr, both 24, in the South Carolina robbery. Zerr managed to drive to a nearby police station and identify Sims before he died, police said.

The suspects were positively identified by two employees of the Glendale restaurant through photographs, Glendale Police Sgt. Thomas Thate said.

Domino’s Pizza security investigator Douglas K. Andrews said he did not know why his company was being targeted for the robberies and killings. The firm has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the two suspects.

Sims was described as a white male, 5 feet, 8 inches tall, weighing about 190 pounds. Padgett, a white female, is 5 feet, 7 inches tall, weighing about 120 pounds.

Police said the pair may be driving a 1985 red Toyota pickup truck, California license plate number 2R55422, which belonged to Harrigan. Information can be reported to Glendale police at (818) 956-4840.