Suspect Identified in Real Estate Agent’s Slaying

Police investigating the fatal stabbing and strangulation of Beverly Hills real estate agent Elaine Siegel said Tuesday that their main suspect is a sandwich deliveryman they believe had been to the house the victim was showing in Coldwater Canyon.

The suspect was identified as Anthony Pacheo, 34, of Inglewood, who police said had been convicted of second-degree murder in Oxnard. The suspect served about four years in prison and completed his parole, Los Angeles Police Lt. Ron Hall said.

Hall said unspecified physical evidence indicated that Pacheo had been at the Coldwater Canyon Drive home where Siegel, 48, was holding an open house for other brokers July 14.

Hall theorized that Pacheo may have planned to rob the house using the sandwiches as a ploy to get in, though he would not say whether the home had been robbed. When a deliveryman showed up at the door, Siegel called her office, Alvarez, Hyland & Young, and was told that no one had ordered sandwiches. The suspect may have killed her out of fright or rage, Hall said.

Siegel’s body was discovered by another agent shortly after 1 p.m., about two hours after the call. Siegel was not robbed, Hall said. He said the killer may have been startled by a visitor and forced to flee through a window.

Police sought to question Pacheo at his home last week, but he jumped over a back-yard fence, Hall said. Hall said Pacheo worked for Judith’s Natural Deli of Venice and often used the Coldwater Canyon route to deliver sandwiches to stores. A woman who answered the telephone at Judith’s refused to speak to a reporter.