Local News in Brief : Arguments May Have Prompted 2 Killings

Police believe two unrelated killings in the San Fernando Valley were motivated by arguments--one over a parking space, the other over purchase of a newspaper.

Thomas Adley Wade, 73, a retired actor, was shot to death in his Canoga Park home Wednesday less than an hour after he apparently argued with a man at a neighborhood newspaper rack, Los Angeles Police Detective Stan Miller said Wednesday.

Wade’s 31-year-old daughter left the house about 9 a.m. When she returned 40 minutes later, she found her father dead.

He had been shot repeatedly in the chest, Miller said. There was no sign of robbery or forced entry, he said.

Wade had told his daughter that he had gotten into a shouting match with an unidentified man who “hassled him” because he bought the last newspaper from a rack at Platt Avenue and Vanowen Street, Miller said.

In the other killing, Alvaro Jesus Lopez, 34, was found shot to death in his home on Vanowen Street in Reseda about 11 p.m. Tuesday, Miller said.

Police were seeking Rolando Enrique Barrera, 35, one of several people who lived with Lopez. Miller said Barrera was seen by several people standing over Lopez with a gun immediately after the shooting. Barrera then fled, police said.

Police have unconfirmed reports that the shooting occurred after the men argued over a parking space, Miller said.