LOCAL : Pacoima Pastor Found Slain

The pastor of a small store-front church in Pacoima was found shot to death in his Chatsworth home and detectives have no clues to the motive, Los Angeles police reported today.

Carl White, 54, who was also a self-employed house painter and a driver for the handicapped, was found about 9:30 p.m. Sunday on the floor of his home in the 20100 block of Citronia Avenue, Detective Michael Brandt said.

There was no sign of forced entry to the home, Brandt said. A woman in her 90s, who was described as an invalid with diminished mental capacities, was apparently in a rear bedroom of the home when White was killed, but she was unable to tell police what happened.

White, whose wife, Margaret, was out of town until late Sunday, was found by members of his Apostolic Church who became concerned when he did not show up for a service Sunday at the small Van Nuys Boulevard church. Police said White had been pastor of the church, which has only a handful of members, for nine years.

Police said they could not pinpoint when White was killed, but a 20-year-old neighbor told detectives that he heard a popping sound on Saturday afternoon and looked out his window to see a man running from the White home toward nearby Winnetka Avenue.