Deputies Investigate Apparent Murder-Suicide

A Santa Clarita man fatally shot his wife and then killed himself, authorities said Saturday.

The murder-suicide occurred in a gated community of expensive townhouses in the 24400 block of Hampton Drive near Magic Mountain, said Sgt. Bob Olmsted of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Olmsted said detectives do not know when the incident occurred. Neighbors did not hear any gunshots, he said.

The couple’s names were not released pending notification of their relatives, Olmsted said.

Deputies went to the townhouse about 6:15 p.m. Saturday after the woman’s employer called authorities, saying he was worried because she had failed to show up for work Saturday, Olmsted said.

When they arrived, they saw the woman through the open blinds of the house lying on the floor of a hallway, Olmsted said. She died from a single gunshot wound to the head, he said.

Deputies found the husband in the living room dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Olmsted said. They also found a semiautomatic handgun, he said.

The couple had had “family problems” in the past, Olmsted said.

Trish Rea, a real estate agent who lives in the complex, said the couple kept to themselves. But about six weeks ago at 7:30 a.m., Rea saw deputies arrive at the couple’s house, she said.

The woman ran out to meet the officers, who entered the house with their guns drawn, Rea said. The deputies then coaxed the man out of the house, handcuffed him and took him away in the car, she said.

Olmsted could not confirm Rea’s account, but said the investigation is continuing.