Shootings of County Woman, Retired Judge Called Murder-Suicide

A retired Illinois judge apparently shot and killed a Newport Beach real estate agent and then turned the gun on himself, authorities said Tuesday.

Jerome C. Slad, 72, and Geraldine (Jeri) Margaret Hunt, 57, were found dead in an upstairs bedroom of Hunt’s Laguna Niguel townhouse on Monday. A neighbor, concerned about not seeing Hunt for two days, had called police.

“It appears to be a murder-suicide,” Orange County Sheriff’s Lt. Richard J. Olson said. He added that a .38-caliber pistol was found near Slad’s hand. The two were found in bed together, Olson said.

Slad was married but had been a close friend of Hunt for some time, according to her friends. No motives were immediately apparent and no suicide note has been found, Olson said.

A preliminary autopsy report Tuesday found that each died from a single gunshot wound to the head. Investigators believe the shootings occurred early Saturday morning, Olson said.

Slad’s son expressed shock at the circumstances of his father’s death. In a telephone interview from Chicago, Jerome C. Slad Jr. said his father and mother, Elia, had two homes, one in Chicago and the other in Rancho Santa Fe in San Diego County.

He said his parents commuted between their residences frequently. Slad’s wife was in Chicago Tuesday, the son said.

“My father was an honest, upright man,” the younger Slad said. He said that when police telephoned him Monday night to explain the details of the slayings, he told them that “I didn’t want to hear any more.”

Slad retired eight years ago as a circuit court judge in Cook County, Illinois. Before becoming a judge, he was a well-known attorney who ran an unsuccessful campaign for state senator.

Jerome Jr. said he talked to his father “a short while ago” and he didn’t seem upset.

Arliss Kirschmer, a close friend and business partner of Hunt, said she had met Slad on several occasions and he “always seemed like a gentle man. . . . I can’t imagine him doing this.”

Hunt’s friends said that she was very respected and well-liked within the real estate community. She owned Hunt Associates in Newport Beach.

“She was a very elegant lady. I don’t know one real estate person in the whole area that was so wonderful,” said Barbara Aune, a friend who once worked with Hunt. “The news of her death has just been devastating for her friends.”