Police Say Boy’s House Yielded Stabbing Clues

A bloodhound led police to the house of a 14-year-old boy suspected of stabbing a neighbor to death and, once at the boy’s house, investigators found physical evidence linking him to the crime, officials said Tuesday.

Westminster Police Officer Robin Kapp declined to elaborate on what evidence was discovered. However, he said the weapon used to kill Janice L. McLean has not been recovered.

No motive for the slaying has been established, Kapp said.

McLean, a 42-year-old single mother of two teen-agers, was stabbed in her bed about 3 a.m. Monday by an assailant who apparently entered her home in the 9100 block of Obsidian Drive by prying open a window. She died during surgery at UCI Medical Center in Orange.

A neighbor who lives five houses from McLean’s said his son was the one arrested by police. He said he had no explanation for the incident and expressed hope that his son was innocent.

The Orange County district attorney’s office will decide today whether to file charges against the boy, who is being held at Orange County Juvenile Hall on suspicion of murder, authorities said. The boy’s name was not released because of his age.

School officials who know the boy said they were shocked by the news. La Quinta High School Principal Andrew McTaggart said the boy is a freshman at the school. He said the youth excelled in athletics but struggled academically and had a problem with attendance.

“He wasn’t an angel, but he wasn’t a problem student either,” McTaggart said.

McLean’s 15-year-old-daughter, who was at home at the time of the attack, attends the same high school, McTaggart said.

He declined to comment further on the either student.

Jim Perry, the boy’s basketball coach, said the ninth-grader is “a very gifted athlete, blessed with a lot of talent.” He said the boy plays football as well as basketball and is well-liked among his teammates and other classmates.

And at 6-foot-3, “we were expecting great things from him,” Perry said.

The boy was ineligible to play in a basketball game because of poor grades, Perry said. McTaggart, however, said the boy’s marks were improving.

On Tuesday, McLean’s friends, co-workers and relatives were at a loss to explain her death and how the 14-year-old fit into the picture.

McLean’s father, Joe Rasciella, who lives next door to his daughter, said the family had no contact with the boy other than “waving to him as we drove down the street.”

He said his daughter “had no enemies. None. Everybody loved her.”

McLean’s colleagues described her as a compassionate friend, a devoted mother and an exceptionally competent secretary. McLean worked for Justice Sheila Prell Sonenshine at the Santa Ana offices of the state’s 4th District Court of Appeal.

Harmon Scoville, presiding justice of the 4th District Court of Appeal, said her colleagues had “nothing but the highest regard for her.”

Friends described McLean as a woman of deep but private religious convictions and a devoted mother. They said she was very proud of her 15-year-old daughter, one of the youngest members of her high school tennis team, and her 18-year-old son, an accomplished artist.

Kathleen Hayes, 39, a clerk in the appeals court, said she and McLean worked together as secretaries in the Westminster branch of the county public defender’s office from 1979 to 1982. For years, the two women have shared frequent dinners and occasionally attended Bible-study sessions together, she said.

Hayes said “everyone” liked McLean and felt they could come to her for help with their personal or professional troubles.

“She was a very loyal friend and she’d do anything to help you,” Hayes said.