Man Kills Self Before Questioning in Death

A Lakewood man shot and killed himself in his home early Thursday when investigators tried to question him about the strangulation of a woman whose body had been dumped the previous day in Orange County, authorities said.

Investigators wanted to question the man, whose identity was not immediately released, because they found he either had rented or was in the process of renting a room to the woman at his home.

Investigators went to the home, in the 11700 block of E. 215th St., about 3:30 a.m. Thursday. As they knocked on the door they heard a single gunshot, said Orange County sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Richard Olson. Authorities said they still did not know if the man was a suspect.

The body of the woman, whose name was withheld pending notification of relatives, was found Wednesday in a Laguna Hills industrial park. Investigators said the woman, fully clothed, apparently had been killed elsewhere.