Woman May Have Died From Beating

An autopsy conducted Saturday on an elderly Ladera Heights woman found that she died of “multiple blunt force trauma” to the chest, possibly as a result of someone beating her with “fists or feet,” the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.

Detectives are awaiting test results to determine whether Pearl Boucher, 78, was sexually molested before her death on Oct. 10, when her body was discovered by her husband in their ransacked home, Deputy George Ducoulombier said.

Sheriff’s homicide investigators, who believe the woman may have been the victim of a serial rapist who has sexually assaulted nine women in Hollywood and West Los Angeles, were to meet with Los Angeles Police Department detectives to compare Boucher’s death to the other attacks.