Woman Jailed in Husband’s Death Released

On her 75th birthday and slightly more than 24 hours after police raided her home, a Redondo Beach woman was released from jail Monday after declining to answer police questions about the death of her 79-year-old husband, investigators said.

Mary Seifert was arrested Sunday and booked for investigation of murder in the death Saturday morning of Melvin Seifert, who police said died at his home of an “injected overdose of a controlled substance.”

Richard Schaeffer, 69, a prominent Rolling Hills Estates doctor who treated Seifert’s ailing husband, was also arrested and declined to talk with police, investigators said. Schaeffer was expected to be released early today.

A coroner’s spokesman said results of autopsy lab tests would not be available until later this week. Deputy Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti said the investigation of Seifert’s death could be completed by the end of next week.

Friends of Seifert and Schaeffer called the arrests an outrage. Seifert’s family declined to comment Monday or to provide the name of her attorney.

Redondo Beach police said Melvin Seifert was a retired coach and something of a legend at Redondo Beach Union High School. One colleague referred to him as Mr. Redondo.

Police released few details on the arrests. Lt. John Nelson said that after 24 hours of investigative work by at least eight detectives, police served search warrants Sunday morning at Schaeffer’s home in a gated community in Rolling Hills Estates, at his Redondo Beach office and at the Seifert residence.

Police took possession of Seifert’s body Saturday morning at a Redondo Beach funeral home. Nelson said Mary Seifert had planned to have her husband’s body cremated.

“There’s a substantial amount of evidence here,” Nelson said, but he declined to provide details. “We feel that this case is of a very serious nature and is in fact a homicide and should be prosecuted as a murder.

“Obviously, the fact that Dr. Schaeffer is a prominent doctor in the community was something we took into consideration,” he said.

Nelson declined to discuss a possible motive for the alleged crime.

Schaeffer, a general practitioner, has worked in Redondo Beach for 45 years, according to his secretary, Margie Welker.

Schaeffer had begun visiting the Seifert home in the last week because Melvin Seifert’s condition had deteriorated to the point that his wife could no longer bring him into the office, Welker said. Melvin Seifert suffered from Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease, she said. Schaeffer visited the Seifert home on Saturday, Welker said, because Melvin Seifert was suffering breathing problems.

A neighbor also said that Melvin Seifert’s condition had worsened recently.

“I saw Mary (Seifert) a week ago,” said Betty Uhls. “I said, ‘How is Mel?’ She said, ‘Betty, I think I’m going to put Melvin in a nursing home.’ ”

Uhls added: “In the four years Melvin was ill I never saw a woman more devoted to a husband than Mary. She wouldn’t even get her hair done. She turned their living room into a hospital room.”

Uhls said it was difficult for Mary Seifert to care for her husband because she has only partial use of one of her arms.

Friends and patients of Schaeffer expressed outrage at his arrest.

“I cannot believe that they would have put him in a lockup of any kind,” said Joan Hughes, 60, a longtime patient who credits the doctor with saving the life of her husband. “He’s not a killer. He’s a God-fearing man, a wonderful man.”

At Schaeffer’s office in Redondo Beach--where Western paintings and the Hippocratic oath decorate the walls--Welker said the doctor’s telephone was “ringing off the hook.” Friends and colleagues called with messages of support and concern, saying “he would never (murder anyone) . . . he has saved too many lives, he cares about life too much,” Welker said.

South Bay Municipal Judge Benjamin Aranda withdrew Seifert’s arrest warrant Monday morning, allowing her to be freed.

Nelson said that “due to her age and for humanitarian reasons,” police did not object. “Her release from custody should not be construed as (an admission) of any weakness in this case,” he said.

Times staff writers Bettina Boxall, Lily Dizon, Janet Rae-Dupree and Louis Sahagun contributed to this report.