Police Look at Drug Sales as Murder Motive

Anaheim police are investigating reports of cocaine trafficking in an attempt to determine a motive for the May 31 gunshot slaying of an Anaheim couple, authorities said Friday.

“That is definitely one of the avenues,” said Anaheim Police Sgt. Chet Barry. “We are looking at that information, and we are concerned.”

So far, he said, investigators have no substantial leads in the deaths of Louis Arturo Herrera, 24, and his girlfriend, Diane Patrice Swarbrick, 23, whose bodies were found in their apartment at 729 S. Knott Ave.

Herrera had been shot three times in the head and Swarbrick twice in the chest, Barry said. Coroner’s deputies placed the time of death around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday.

According to investigators, a neighbor reported hearing five shots and saw two men leave the apartment about that time.

The bodies were discovered later in the day, after the couple’s 20-month-old daughter and Herrera’s 18-month-old son made their way out of the apartment and told a neighbor, “Mommy has a boo-boo and I can’t wake her up.”

Both children were apparently in the apartment at the time of the shooting and alone with the bodies for 10 hours, Barry said.

Herrera was reportedly awaiting trial on theft charges at the time of his death, but Barry said investigators have no reason to link the slayings with the court appearance.