Man Kills Wife’s Stepbrother During Break-In : Slaying: The victim was the cause of a series of family squabbles, causing officers to come to the home a number of times, neighbors said.

A homeowner shot and killed his wife’s stepbrother early Friday morning while the man was reportedly attempting to break into the family’s home, ending a long string of violent outbursts that disrupted the neighborhood, authorities said.

Although sheriff’s investigators declined to name the shooting victim, he was identified by neighbors and court records as Alfred J. LeBrun, 25, who had acquired a reputation as a violent and unpredictable man who repeatedly attacked and threatened various family members for years.

LeBrun was killed almost instantly by a single shotgun blast to the chest, investigators said.

The shotgun was fired at point-blank range by Jeffrey S. Alix, 33, the husband of LeBrun’s stepsister, according to investigators. He told deputies that he accidentally shot his stepbrother after he was awakened in the middle of the night by what sounded like a prowler, Sheriff’s Department spokesman Lt. Richard J. Olson said.

“I feel numb,” Alix said as stood in the living room of his one-story, single-family home at the end of a cul de sac near the Laguna Hills Golf Course. “I can’t believe it happened.”

Alix, an employee of Hughes Corp. in Newport Beach, and his wife, Lynn, 32, declined further comment.

Alix was not charged in the shooting, Olson said. Once all evidence is gathered and all interviews are completed, sheriff’s homicide detectives will turn the case over to the Orange County district attorney’s office for review, probably by next week.

LeBrun was under an April 17, 1989, court order to stay away from the couple, their two young children and Lynn Alix’s father, Charles Audette.

Lynn Alix had obtained the court order after she ended a separation from her husband in March, 1989, Olson said. While separated, she lived with LeBrun, court records show.

In filing for the restraining order, Lynn Alix said that her stepbrother repeatedly beat her and her father, Audette, who is LeBrun’s stepfather. At least twice last year, LeBrun “punched and strangled” both Lynn Alix and Audette, cutting and bruising them, according to the court order.

The 1:58 a.m. shooting occurred when Alix, who had just gone to bed shortly after returning home from work, heard the front door rattling, Olson said.

“(Alix) goes out in the front room, and at that point, he hears a gate at the side of the house swing open,” Olson said.

Alix grabbed his 12-gauge shotgun and walked out of the house. Approaching the darkened back yard, Alix spotted the silhouette of a man who he thought was trying to break through the glass door to the kitchen, Olson said.

Alix shouted, and when the intruder turned and lunged at him, Alix fired once, Olson said.

Lynn Alix, hearing the blast, came running outside, Alix told investigators. After she flipped on the kitchen light, the couple discovered that the shooting victim was her stepbrother.

The incident was the latest in a number of attempts by LeBrun to contact his stepsister since she obtained the court order, which was due to lapse in April, 1992, court records show. LeBrun ignored the order to stay at least 150 yards from the Alix house on at least six occasions, according to court records. He was also ordered to stay away from the home of his stepfather and the elementary school where the Alix children were enrolled.

On July 23, 1989, LeBrun was arrested by sheriff’s deputies after Lynn Alix filed for a citizen’s arrest, court records show. She called deputies after he went to the house and became violent, according to records.

Other records in Municipal Court show a complaint charging LeBrun with assault and battery and ignoring the court order. The complaint covered dates between March, 27, 1989, and July, 24, 1989.

A $10,000 bench warrant was issued after LeBrun failed to show up for a court appearance in Laguna Niguel, a court clerk said.

Sheriff’s investigators were trying to piece together how the long-lasting feud between the relatives began or why it continued, Olson said.

Most residents of picturesque Torino Street were reluctant to speak publicly but confirmed privately that LeBrun continued to visit the Alix home since the court order was issued. They said that for years, LeBrun had disrupted their lives with outbursts that sometimes drew deputies to the Alix home.

For hours after the shooting, curious residents stood on their immaculate lawns watching homicide detectives collect evidence in the back yard. While investigators worked, eight squad cars and a fire truck remained parked along the narrow residential street.

LeBrun had recently been seen around the house by neighbors, performing chores such as mowing the lawn. He seemed peaceful at the time, neighbors said.

One neighbor said that police had been to the Alix residence several times in recent years to arrest LeBrun.

“There were a lot of strange things going on at that place,” said the neighbor, who declined to give his name.