LAGUNA NIGUEL : Suspect in Murders an Apparent Suicide

A 38-year-old gas station cashier wanted for questioning in the slaying of his wife and stepdaughter in their Laguna Niguel home apparently killed himself by climbing a high-voltage tower and touching power lines, authorities said Wednesday.

The Los Angeles County coroner’s office has scheduled an autopsy for today to determine how Robert William Davis died. His body was found Tuesday in a clump of bushes at Ryerson Park in Lakewood.

Orange County Sheriff’s Lt. Richard J. Olson said Davis apparently died after climbing one of four high-tension towers in the park, which includes an equestrian center. There were electrical burns on his body and his left shoe was missing, Olson said.

Bob Dambacher, a spokesman for the coroner’s office, said Davis apparently took his own life, climbing onto the high-voltage tower at about 8:30 p.m. Monday and then plunging to the ground.

“It’s a possible suicide,” Dambacher said. “We are looking at it like that.”

Olson said that the investigation into the murders of Davis’ wife, Suzette, 39, and his stepdaughter Jodi Nordfelt, 20, was continuing, despite the fact that Davis was the only person sought.

Sheriff’s investigators in Orange County have declined to speculate if Davis’ death was accidental or a suicide. Authorities have also declined to say whether they believed Davis was the prime suspect in the double murder. However, they pointed out that the apartment had been locked and there were no signs of forced entry.

The bodies of the two women were found at 9 a.m. Monday after Suzette Davis’ youngest daughter called authorities from her grandmother’s house when she failed to locate the women, family friends said.

Two deputies found the victims in the apartment on Niguel Road near Crown Valley Parkway.