Man, Suspected in Killing, Slain by Agents at Border

The prime suspect in the weekend murder of an Orange County Fire Department arson investigator and the wounding of a 31-year-old woman was killed Sunday by U.S. customs officers as he tried to return from Mexico to the United States.

San Diego Police Lt. William Skinner said K.C. Janulaitis, 42, of San Clemente, was shot once in the head shortly before noon after he opened fire on two agents who tried to detain him at the San Ysidro border crossing.

Janulaitis was wanted in the murder of Dennis J. Donelson, 46, and the wounding of Barbara Lynn Clark early Saturday at her apartment in the 26500 block of Camino de Vista, San Juan Capistrano.

Report From Neighbors

Donelson died at a Mission Viejo hospital of an abdominal wound. Clark, 31, was shot once in the side and was listed in fair condition at the hospital.

Clark told two neighbors who rushed to her aid, Scott and Yvonne Bates, that Janulaitis had fired the shots. Neighbors said they saw a silver Chevrolet Camaro, which Clark had described as belonging to the suspect, leaving the area.

Skinner said the customs agents stopped Janulaitis on a routine inspection as he attempted to re-enter the United States. He said a computer check of Janulaitis’ car’s license number had alerted agents that Janulaitis was wanted and presumed to be armed and dangerous.

“At that point, he fired at the agents. And the agents returned fire,” Skinner said.

After the exchange, Skinner said, Janulaitis sped away while customs agents, San Diego police and U.S. Border Patrol agents pursued.

Crash on Interstate

A mile into the chase, Janulaitis’ car swerved and crashed down an embankment on Interstate 805, Skinner said. Skinner said the suspect was then airlifted to UC San Diego Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

The Bates couple told reporters that Clark told them that she and Donelson were investigating Janulaitis as a suspect in the burning of a building she owned.

But neither the Orange County Sheriff’s Department nor the county Fire Department would confirm that Sunday. They would say only that Donelson was on duty at the time of his death.

Donelson will be buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Cypress at 10 a.m. Wednesday. He is survived by his wife, Carolyn, and their children, a son, Dean, 23, of Long Beach, and daughters Debra, 20, and Jensina, 8, both of Seal Beach.

Times staff writer Leonard Bernstein in San Diego contributed to this story.