Spurned Man Kills Ex-Girlfriend, Self : Violence: She had filed a ‘stalking’ complaint, and police officers just missed him at home. The murder-suicide takes place as she arrives at work.

Hours after she filed a “stalking” complaint that almost led to his arrest, an 18-year-old Encino receptionist was fatally shot Monday by her estranged boyfriend, who then killed himself.

Less than two hours after deputies went to his Newhall home to take him into custody and found him gone, Scott Dyer shot Kymberly Ann Crabtree as she arrived for work, Los Angeles police said.

Crabtree had told sheriff’s deputies six hours before the shooting that Dyer, 23, had been following her for the last week, repeatedly made threatening phone calls to her family’s home in Newhall and burglarized their house to take back his gifts to her, authorities said.

When she arrived for work about 9 a.m. in a Ventura Boulevard office building, Dyer was waiting for her in the underground parking garage, Detective Rick Swanston said.

Minutes later, after an argument that was interrupted by concerned building employees, Dyer shot Crabtree with a .357 magnum revolver and then turned the gun on himself. Each died of a single wound to the head, Swanston said.

Crabtree, who turned 18 on Dec. 13, worked for the real-estate investment firm of Marcus & Millichap, which occupies a suite on the first floor of the Bank of Newport building at 16501 Ventura Blvd., at the corner of Hayvenhurst Avenue.

Company managers did not return phone calls Monday. Police and a co-worker who asked not to be identified said Dyer had caused several disturbances in the office since Crabtree broke up with him earlier this month.

Dyer installed car phones for a living. Police Lt. George Rock said Dyer and Crabtree had been dating for about three years, broke up in June, reconciled, and broke up again this month.

Earlier this year, Dyer was arrested by sheriff’s deputies in Santa Clarita for battery against Crabtree. The disposition of that case could not be determined Monday.

Crabtree told deputies about midnight Sunday that Dyer had been calling her as many as 15 times a day since their recent separation, Sheriff’s Lt. Don Rodriguez said. She said Dyer threatened to hurt her if she did not talk to him, Rodriguez said.

She also complained of being followed by Dyer for the last week, including to and from work and to a Christmas party, Swanston said.

Finally, Crabtree told deputies she believed Dyer had broken into her home sometime between Saturday night and Sunday morning because the only items taken were clothing that Dyer had given her, Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said deputies decided they would seek Dyer’s immediate arrest on suspicion of burglary because it is a felony and does not require a warrant to make an arrest. They also decided to invoke a relatively new state law and seek a misdemeanor “stalking” charge against Dyer--meaning that he could have been prosecuted for prolonged harassment of Crabtree.

A misdemeanor stalking charge requires a warrant for an arrest and would have taken longer to carry out, Rodriguez said.

He said deputies went to Dyer’s house Monday between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. to arrest him but no one was home.

Meanwhile, in Encino, another employee arriving for work noticed Dyer waiting in the garage in a white Corvette and became suspicious when Dyer tried to duck down inside his car, Swanston said. The man notified building authorities, who in turn dispatched three people to investigate.

Those employees, whom police did not identify, entered the garage and heard Dyer and Crabtree arguing, Swanston said. They decided the fight involved a private dispute and were heading back to the elevators when Dyer noticed them and pointed his gun at them, Swanston said.

The three fled down a ramp and heard two shots fired as they turned the corner.