Delivery Man Sought in Real Estate Agent’s Slaying

Police are looking for a sandwich delivery man as a possible suspect in the slaying of a Beverly Hills real estate agent who was stabbed and strangled Tuesday in a Coldwater Canyon house she was showing.

The dead woman, Elaine Siegel, 48, apparently admitted the man to the house, then checked with her office because she did not order sandwiches to serve at the open house, co-workers said.

Her body was found about an hour later by another agent looking at the home for sale at 2440 Coldwater Canyon Drive. The food Siegel had planned on serving at a lunch was still unpacked.

The gray and white ranch house is listed for $795,000 and is owned by criminal defense attorney David Beerman.

Los Angeles Police Detective Lee Kingsford said the food delivery man climbed over a back fence moments before police arrived at his home Wednesday night to question him.

Police would not reveal the suspect’s name or employer and they emphasized that his possible involvement is only one of many avenues they are pursuing. They have not abandoned a theory that the victim surprised a burglar. “A screen was pried off a back window and the window was open,” Kingsford said. “We could not tell if it was an entry or exit point.”

Because of an electrical short in the burglar alarm, a security company was not alerted when the window was opened, Kingsford said.

An autopsy Thursday concluded that Siegel, an agent with Alvarez, Hyland & Young, died of stabbing and strangulation, police said. Defensive wounds, indicating that the woman put up a struggle, were also found.

Siegel was a former hairdresser and makeup artist who six months ago joined her friend, Elaine Young, in the real estate business. The women shared the listing on the Coldwater Canyon home, and Young said she asked the victim to hold the open house in her place because of a scheduling conflict.