Suspect in Boardinghouse Slaying Kills Self
A suspect in the fatal stabbing of a Lake Los Angeles man took his own life as sheriff’s deputies tried to take him into custody, authorities said Sunday.
Robert Blazer, 30, shot himself in the chest with a .30-caliber rifle Saturday after ignoring deputies’ repeated requests to come out of a room at the home where he was staying in Palmdale, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Wahla said.
Sheriff’s homicide investigators went to the home in the 18000 block of East Avenue S after receiving an anonymous tip about 9:45 p.m., Wahla said.
Blazer was suspected of killing Richard Van Diest, 32, earlier in the day after an argument, Wahla said. Diest died about 3 a.m. Saturday in a Lake Los Angeles boardinghouse in the 39000 block of 182nd Street after being stabbed with a machete in the upper chest. Blazer rented a room next door to Diest, authorities said.
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