SEAL BEACH : Chee Case Is Closed After Suspect Slain

Long Beach police have closed the investigation into the slaying of a Seal Beach real estate broker after confirming that the murder suspect has been killed in the Philippines, authorities said.

Detectives used fingerprints and photographs to identify the body of Vicente (Vic) Lapid OCampo, which was flown back to Long Beach earlier this week, Police Detective George Fox said.

“We have no other suspects in this case, so we consider the matter closed,” Fox said. “We will advise the district attorney of the latest development so that he can have the murder warrant (against OCampo) recalled.”

OCampo, 45, had been sought by police for eight months in the shooting death of Arlene Lee Chee of Seal Beach. Chee, 46, was last seen heading to an appointment with OCampo, who owned a rival realty firm in Long Beach.

Police said the two had been arguing over a real estate agent who left OCampo’s firm to join Chee’s more successful business.

OCampo had been one of Chee’s first employees when she opened her Long Beach Office in 1982. But Chee fired OCampo that same year, and he set up his own real estate firm.

Family members found Chee’s body Feb. 16 in the trunk of her Mercedes-Benz parked on a Long Beach street. She had been shot once in the head.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office had filed murder charges against OCampo in February when police discovered that blood on the carpet in his office matched Chee’s.

OCampo, however, had already fled to the Philippines, where he was born. Because the Southeast Asian nation does not have an extradition agreement with the United States, authorities could not press for OCampo’s return.

Earlier this month, Long Beach police learned that OCampo was also shot in the head by his chauffeur on Oct. 9 in the Philippines, Fox said.

“But we’re treating that (piece of information) as hearsay,” he said. “Although our case is closed, we are planning to write the authorities in the Philippines to obtain all the information for our files.”