Neighbors of Suspect in 3 Murders ‘Surprised, Shocked’ by His Arrest

Neighbors who knew Gregory Allan Sturm when he was growing up in the rocky hills of the De Anza area outside Riverside remember an energetic, playful youth who loved to swim and often baby-sat younger neighborhood children.

But at some point, they say without quite being able to pinpoint it, that youthful energy became misdirected and was a source of friction among family and neighbors.

Still, they expressed shock at the latest turn of events involving the youth they remember as strapping and handsome.

On Friday Sturm, 21, stood accused of the execution-style slayings of three former co-workers at a Tustin automotive parts store, where he was dismissed several weeks ago for alleged theft and other misconduct. Prosecutors also filed murder charges that could bring the death penalty.

Police said the apparent motive for Sunday’s slayings at the Super Shops auto parts store was robbery to obtain cash to buy drugs.

Sturm was arrested early Thursday in his hometown, hiding out, police said, in the yard of his girlfriend’s home.

Neighbors on the well-to-do cul-de-sac where Sturm grew up said they remember a youth of quick temper but not violence.

“He had a bit of a temper and a bit of a mouth but nothing that stands out,” said James McDaniel, 25, who still lives next door to the Sturm home on Lippizan Drive.

McDaniel said he graduated from Rubidoux High School just as Sturm was entering school there. “I was shocked and surprised when I heard about this,” McDaniel said. “I just really couldn’t picture him being involved in anything like this.”

Poor grades caused Sturm to drop out of Rubidoux before graduation, McDaniel said. Sturm’s poor school performance also meant that he was dropped from the school swim team and varsity cheerleading squad, which he had made his junior year.

Peter Yannacone, another neighbor, described Sturm as a “wonderful kid” who doted on Yannacone’s twin daughters and was always willing to baby-sit when Yannacone’s wife had to run errands.

Yannacone said he hired Sturm to work at a nightclub he owns, Club Metro, but fired the youth when he found out that Sturm had lied on his employment application and was underage.

But he described Sturm as a diligent worker who liked the atmosphere and camaraderie of the bar.

“Sometimes he wasn’t good at submitting to authority, but he always respected me and was never a problem,” Yannacone said.

Colleagues at the Super Shops auto parts store where the crimes occurred painted a different picture, however.

Police reported that Sturm was fired for theft and allege that a cocaine habit caused him to miss work frequently.

But Yannacone said that if the drug accusations are true, it is a problem that beset Sturm in later years. And he said he can’t make himself believe that he boy he knew could commit the kind of violence he is accused of.

“This is devastating to us,” he said wearily. “My poor wife is just sick about it. Maybe I can see him killing if he was on drugs, but as far as just killing out of revenge, no. I just don’t believe that Greg did it.”