Gunman Kills Arson Investigator, Shoots Woman

A 46-year-old Orange County arson investigator apparently working on a suspicious fire was fatally shot and a 31-year-old woman seriously injured when a man fired through the front window of her condominium in San Juan Capistrano early Saturday, sheriff’s deputies said.

A suspect, K. C. Janulaitis, 42, of San Clemente, whom witnesses said was an acquaintance of the woman, was being sought, said Lt. Dick Olson, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

The shooting occurred shortly after 1:30 a.m. when an intruder snatched a window screen from the darkened condominium and fired at least three shots inside, hitting Dennis Donaldson of Seal Beach and Barbara Lynn Clark, Olson said.

Neighbors said Clark told them she and Donaldson were investigating a fire at a building that she owned, and that Janulaitis was a suspect in the fire. Sheriff’s investigators and Orange County Fire Department officials declined to discuss the case, and would not confirm if Donaldson was investigating a case involving Clark or Janulaitis.

Donaldson, who was an arson investigator for the Orange County Fire Department for five years, died at 7:45 a.m. during surgery at Mission Viejo Community Hospital. He was shot once in the lower abdomen.

Clark, who had lived at the one-bedroom condominium in the 20000 block of Camino de Vista less than two months, was shot once on the right side. She was listed in serious condition late Saturday, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The search for Janulaitis was launched from information provided by a couple who tended to Clark after the shooting.

The couple, Scott Bates, 19, a Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton, and his wife, Yvonne, said they heard at least three loud shots and screaming. Bates said he and his wife, who live above Clark’s apartment, then saw a silver 1985 Chevrolet Camaro drive away.

Yvonne Bates said that while her husband tried to stop Clark’s bleeding, the woman told her to write down the name of the man she thought had shot them.

“I looked around and found an envelope and wrote the information down. She told me it was K. C. and she spelled his last name for me,” Yvonne Bates said. “She seemed to know who he was right away.”

Scott Bates said that Clark told him that she and Donaldson were investigating a fire at a building she owned, and that Janulaitis was involved in that investigation.

“She said they were trying to pin him down,” he said. “She said this guy (Donaldson) was trying to get K. C. for something.”

However, sheriff’s investigators said they did not know what relationship the two victims and the suspect had before the shooting.

Lt. Paul Falk of the San Clemente Police Department said officers in that city were assisting in the search for Janulaitis. He also said that the suspect has been arrested in San Clemente before on various minor charges.

“He is known to us. But we’ve never arrested him for anything huge, like a felony,” Falk said.