Man, 92, Apparently Kills Woman, Self

A 92-year-old North Hollywood man apparently shot his 42-year-old maid to death Thursday and then killed himself, Los Angeles police said.

The bodies of Shirley Lynn Keever and Ben Walter Schwartz were found at 2:15 p.m. by officers responding to a report of shots being fired at an apartment house in the 6300 block of Whitsett Street, police said.

“They’re calling it a murder-suicide,” said Sgt. Tom Toutant.

Schwartz apparently shot Keever several times in the upper torso and then shot himself once in the head with a .38-caliber semiautomatic pistol, Detective David Alfred said.

The bodies were found about 10 feet apart.

Detectives had not determined the cause of the shooting, but neighbors reported that the two argued shortly before the shooting.

“It was loud enough to where the neighbors were hearing them yelling at each other,” Alfred said.

Keever had been living in the apartment with Schwartz for about two months. Neighbors reported hearing loud arguments between the two on previous occasions, Alfred said.

Neighbors said Schwartz had lived in the apartment for 2 1/2 years.