Woman Pleads Guilty in Death of Roommate

A Van Nuys woman pleaded guilty Thursday to shooting to death a disabled roommate she had cared for and then setting the victim’s body afire.

Nancy Crue, 44, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder with a firearm in the Oct. 7, 1989, slaying of 39-year-old Carole Hix.

Crue entered the plea in Van Nuys Superior Court as weeping members of the victim’s family watched. She faces a prison term of 17 years to life and is scheduled to be formally sentenced March 29 by Judge Michael J. Farrell.

Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Jay Lipman said a motive for the slaying was not known, although Crue and Hix had had disputes before the killing. Lipman said Crue was allowed to plead guilty to second-degree murder because the case did not include strong evidence of a motive or premeditation.

He said the victim’s family also approved the plea agreement. “It was the family’s desire not to go through a trial,” Lipman said. “They felt this was equitable for everyone.”

Hix’s body was found in her bedroom by firefighters called to a fire in her apartment in the 15800 block of Vanowen Street. Her body had been burned, but investigators determined that she had been shot to death before being set afire.

Lipman said it was not known whether the killer set the body on fire in an effort to hide the shooting.

Police said witnesses told them they saw Crue leaving the apartment shortly before the fire was seen. She was found six days later in a bar on Sepulveda Boulevard, not far from the scene of the slaying.

Lipman said Crue and Hix were longtime friends. Crue had moved in with Hix 1 1/2 years before the slaying to care for her and to serve as her driver because Hix had been badly injured in a car accident and had difficulty walking.

Crue, however, had moved in and out of the apartment three times before the slaying. Lipman said that at the time of the killing Crue had recently moved back into the apartment but had ceased being a caretaker for Hix.