Man Arrested in Girlfriend’s Violent Death : Slaying: Huntington Beach woman found bludgeoned and stabbed repeatedly. The suspect confesses to police who found him bleeding from a self-inflicted knife wound.

A Huntington Beach chemical engineer apparently distraught over job troubles was arrested on suspicion of killing his girlfriend Saturday morning by bludgeoning her with a hammer and stabbing her repeatedly with a large butcher knife, police said.

Huntington Beach Police Lt. Charles Poe said Dennis M. DeVinny, 32, apparently tried to stab himself to death after he dialed 911 and told police that he had murdered his girlfriend.

Poe said DeVinny also confessed to the crime before he was arrested in front of the condominium he shared with the victim, Helen M. Scherer, 37.

He was being held on suspicion of murder in the jail ward at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, Poe said.

Scherer was pronounced dead at UCI Medical Center in Orange about an hour after the 4:28 a.m. attack at the condominium in the 6600 block of Warner Avenue, Poe said. She was found with deep gashes apparently created by the hammer and multiple stab wounds from a knife, Poe said.

The first officer to reach the scene, Sgt. Tony Solicito, saw DeVinny walking down a set of stairs carrying a large knife and bleeding from the upper abdomen, Poe said. The man walked directly toward Solicito, who ordered him to stop, but instead he turned around and began walking away.

Solicito ordered the suspect to drop the knife several times before DeVinny finally put the weapon down, Poe said.

Officers found Scherer alive and lying on the bedroom floor of the apartment, Poe said. Paramedics treated her at the scene and then ordered her airlifted by helicopter to the hospital where she died at about 5:45 a.m., Poe said.

DeVinny was taken to the same hospital and treated for a wound to the upper abdomen.

Police said DeVinny was distraught over job troubles and may have been fired recently. But officials at DeVinny’s chemical engineering company in Signal Hill said they believed DeVinny was still an employee.

Poe said officers confiscated two knives which they believe DeVinny used in the stabbings, along with a hammer.

Police said neighbors saw DeVinny stab himself.

The couple living downstairs, Grant and Teresa Pomraning, came running out of their apartment after hearing noises from upstairs. But Grant Pomraning said he and his wife would not discuss the stabbing incident.

He did, however, describe the victim as “a very nice lady.”

“She never created a problem; we enjoyed having her live there,” he said. “But my wife and I don’t care to discuss it further. It’s just a very, very tragic incident.”

Residents in the quiet complex who were familiar with DeVinny were shocked by the early morning events. They described him as a pleasant, soft-spoken man who was often seen walking alone with his dog.

“He was so nice,” said Joan Grimes, a personal nurse for one of the residents in the apartment unit. “He saw me carrying some things yesterday and said, ‘Can I help you?’ ”

Scherer worked at McDonnell Douglas in Cypress as a personnel analyst.

Staff writers Jerry Hicks, Henry Chu and Tom McQueeney contributed to this report.