Police Identify Elderly Pair Slain in Clairemont Home : Crime: Their 10-year-old grandson, who was raised by the couple, hid in another room as they were stabbed.

The elderly Clairemont couple stabbed to death as their 10-year-old great-grandson listened from another room were identified by authorities Tuesday as John Oren and his crippled, partly blind wife, Katherine.

Discovered by the great--grandson early Monday, the couple had been stabbed and beaten sometime after 9 p.m. Sunday when at least two men entered their home on Deerpark Drive and began to argue with John Oren, San Diego police spokesman John Welter said.

The terrified boy ran into a room and locked the door when he heard a struggle and did not come out again until Monday morning, when he found the bodies, Welter said.

Police don’t know whether the killers were aware that the boy was in the house and, although the one-story, two-bedroom home was ransacked, police cannot speculate whether the killings were related to robbery, Welter said.

A yellow Mercury Monarch with a green passenger’s door was missing from the Orens’ home, Welter said.

Neighbors said John Oren, a retired General Dynamics worker thought to have been 80 years old, would often use the car to run errands and always parked in the driveway outside the stucco home. Residents say Katherine Oren, who was aided by a walker, was in her late 70s. Police are also exploring whether the couple, who lived in the neighborhood more than 25 years, knew their killers.

“We are not ruling out the possibility that they may have known their killers. It is possible,” said Welter.

The Orens were legal guardians of the boy, who has lived with them all of his life, Welter said. He has been turned over to a county social services facility until the courts decide where he can stay.