Leaflets Seek Help in Finding Killer of Woman, Unborn Child

Burbank police distributed hundreds of leaflets during rush-hour traffic Friday morning hoping to turn up clues in the so-far baffling slaying of a pregnant woman who was leaving for work.

Despite about 40 phone tips from callers who read the flyers, police reported that they had no suspects and knew no motive in the shooting of Jane Marie Torosyan, 29.

She was shot once in the head in front of her apartment building in the 300 block of North Pass Avenue at about 7:10 a.m. Thursday, Detective Kevin Krafft said.

Eight Months Pregnant

Torosyan, who was eight months pregnant, was found slumped against the open door of her car by a nurse arriving home from a night shift, Krafft said. She had been shot with a handgun at close range, indicating that “she wasn’t caught off guard,” he said.

Torosyan was taken to St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, but doctors were unable to revive her or the fetus. Autopsy results Friday revealed that Torosyan, who also used her maiden name of Gunderson, probably died immediately of the gunshot and that her fetus died minutes later from lack of oxygen, Krafft said.

Several residents heard what sounded like a single gunshot, Krafft said, but were not alarmed because the neighborhood is across the street from The Burbank Studios, where movie stunts with gunshots occur frequently.

“Sometimes people get complacent about the situation,” he said.

Krafft said Torosyan’s purse, jewelry and money were not taken, although police are not ruling out robbery as a motive. He said that she appeared to have no personal or business disputes that could have led to the murder.

Torosyan, who was originally from Flint, Mich., worked as a clerk for the Metropolitan Water District Federal Credit Union in Los Angeles. Her husband, Sergio, runs a gas station in Sun Valley. Police said he was in the couple’s apartment, sick with the flu, at the time of the shooting.

“She was a very well-liked, pleasant person,” said MWD spokesman Jay Malinowski, a friend of Torosyan. “It was really a blow to the credit union’s staff.”

Police Roadblocks

Police roadblocks were in place Friday near the victim’s apartment from 6:45 to 7:30 a.m. About 400 motorists and 100 pedestrians were stopped and handed leaflets asking whether they had noticed Torosyan, who was clad in a pink knit blouse and navy slacks, her parked car (a white 1985 Pontiac Trans Am) or her unknown assailant.

“This was right next to the street. Somebody may have seen something and not been aware of what they saw,” Krafft said.

Twelve reserve police officers will visit shops and homes in the area today to hand out more flyers, he said.