Woman and 2 Boys Shot to Death : Man Turned Gun on Self, Police Say

A 60-year-old Tustin man shot and killed his elderly mother and two young boys who lived with the family, then critically wounded himself Monday, police said.

Leon E. Huffman was in critical condition with a .22-caliber gunshot wound to the abdomen after undergoing surgery Monday afternoon at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana. Dead are Huffman’s 86-year-old mother Alice, 11-year-old Frankie Huffman and 8-year-old Billy Huffman.

The two boys came to the Huffmans as foster children in 1981, but the family assumed legal guardianship of them in 1984.

Police had no motive for the crime, although Huffman’s wife, Betty, who was not home at the time of the shooting, told authorities that her husband had been depressed because of a heart condition.

The shootings, which Tustin authorities called the most “shocking homicide (case) in the city’s history,” occurred at about 5:30 a.m. in a brown-and-beige shake-roof home in the 1100 block of Mear Lane, a quiet neighborhood of modest homes and well-kept yards.

Left 15 Minutes Earlier

Betty Huffman had left the house about 15 minutes earlier for her secretarial job in a Huntington Beach office, Tustin Police Lt. Bob Schoenkopf said.

The boys were found in their beds in a room they shared, each with a .22-caliber gunshot wound to the head. Alice Huffman was also found in her bed, with a similar gunshot wound to the head. Leon Huffman was found slumped on the floor of the boys’ bedroom. Police said coroner’s deputies are unsure of the sequence of the shootings.

Schoenkopf said there were no signs of a struggle inside the house, which was clean and well-kept. Investigators found several firearms inside the home.

They declined to comment on whether Huffman left a note.

Police were notified of the shootings when they received a call on the 911 emergency line at about 9:25 a.m. from a man who said: “I’ve just killed my kids and my wife and am going to kill myself,” according to a Tustin police spokesman.

Huffman did not identify himself or his location and hung up abruptly, according to authorities. But officials were able to trace the address through the phone call.

Officers surrounded the home and broke down the door after failing to get a response from anyone inside.

Betty Huffman returned home after the shooting. She was detained at a police cordon where she identified herself and asked what had happened, according to Tustin Police Sgt. Mark Bergquist. She broke down sobbing after she was told that the children were dead.

Bergquist said investigators are uncertain of the meaning of Huffman’s reference to having killed his wife.

Gene Howard, director of Orange County Children Services, said the agency placed the children with the Huffmans on Oct. 15, 1981. He declined to detail the boys’ backgrounds, except to say they were half-brothers who had different fathers.

The Huffmans assumed guardianship on Feb. 24, 1984, according to county records.

“Essentially, legal guardians have the same status as adoptive parents with the exception that natural parents’ rights have not been terminated. This means that the legal guardians can request all medical records, sign them into school, get them a driver’s license . . . all the things parents can legally do,” Howard said.

Because guardianship was awarded to the couple in 1984, Howard said, the boys were no longer dependent on the agency. The Huffmans, however, did continue to receive financial assistance like other foster parents, he added.

The Huffmans had taken in other foster children before 1981, but no other children had been placed with them in recent years, Howard said. The family was certified by the county to be foster parents, although their most recent foster care license expired Sept. 30.

The family was checked every 6 months as prescribed by law. “As far as we knew, they were all doing just fine every time we checked,” Howard said. But he said the county did know about Huffman’s medical problems and a subsequent open-heart surgery.

“Essentially, the children had been with them most of their lives. The kids had really grown up with the Huffmans,” Howard said.

The boys were in the second and fourth grades at Currie-Thorman Elementary and Middle School only a few blocks from their home.

Maurice A. Ross, superintendent of the Tustin Unified School District, said school officials were familiar with the family and that both mother and father seemed to take an interest in the children’s schoolwork.

Ross said the children were well-behaved and well-liked at school. He said a district psychologist was dispatched to the school to counsel teachers and students about the incident.

The shootings shocked neighborhood residents, who described the family as quiet but friendly.

Tom McMahan, 58, who lives next door to the Huffmans, said the family acted normally and did not appear under stress.

McMahan said he went outside to pick up his paper at about 7:30 a.m. Monday and saw Leon Huffman taking out trash.

“He was coming around the side of the house and we said hello,” McMahan said. “He said, ‘It’s a dreary day, isn’t it?’ and went back to the house. I knew he had had a couple of heart attacks, but he seemed fine. This is the last thing in the world I would have ever expected.”

McMahan said he heard no shots or commotion in the home.

Debbie McGaughey, who lives behind the Huffmans on Sycamore Avenue, also said she heard no shots from the home.

McGaughey said the Huffman boys were outgoing and cheerful, always at her home playing with another youngster she frequently baby-sits.

She said Alice Huffman seemed active and would take evening strolls.

“It’s hard to believe something like this could happen. The boys were just over here on Friday,” McGaughey said. “The father (Leon Huffman) used to come over and get the kids at 6:30 p.m. on the dot to take them home. He seemed like the nicest man. I can’t believe he would do that to his children.”

Times staff writer Ray Perez contributed to this story.