Woman Held in Slaying of Millionaire Husband
A Tarzana woman who said she shot her millionaire husband to death because she thought he was a burglar was arrested on suspicion of murder, police said Thursday.
Carole Evelyn Mellinger, 48, was arrested after the shooting Wednesday in the 19700 block of Komar Drive, Detective Rick Swanston said. Her husband, Brainerd Lee Mellinger, 69, who owned an export-import business, was dead when police arrived at the family home in the exclusive hillside area of Tarzana about 8 p.m., Swanston said.
Carole Mellinger had been drinking before the shooting and the couple, who had been married 23 years, apparently had ongoing marital problems, police said. However, authorities said they were still not clear on the motive for the slaying.
“It doesn’t make sense the way she said it happened. He came in through the front door and walked down a long hallway to the den where she was” before being shot, said Police Lt. William Gaida.
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