Local News in Brief : Murder Suspect Arrested
A former employee has been arrested in connection with the slayings last month of the owner and another employee of the O & G Water Conditioning Co. in San Gabriel.
Steven Ciotta, 25, of Valinda will be arraigned Thursday in Alhambra Municipal Court on murder charges, San Gabriel police said.
Police had been seeking Ciotta since the Dec. 22 shotgun slayings of Otto Baumann, 78, and Fredrick Schaub, 58, and the wounding of Leo Blakeman. Blakeman, 74, a salesman for the company, was released on Dec. 31 from San Gabriel Valley Medical Center, where he had been treated for wounds in the head and chest.
Ciotta, a laborer, worked for the company for eight months before he was fired five weeks ago after Baumann accused him of petty theft. Ciotta had an appointment to see Baumann the day of the slayings, police said.
Officers found Ciotta in Lancaster on Monday, sleeping in a company truck.
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