Ventura County Homicide Rate for 1993 Exceeds Last Year’s Mark : Crime: The 35 slayings reported so far are within an average range and are well below the record of 59 and recent high of 48, coroner’s spokesman says.

With less than six weeks remaining until the end of the year, the number of homicides in Ventura County has surpassed the countywide total for all of 1992, a spokesman for the coroner’s office said Monday.

Two separate shootings in Oxnard and Port Hueneme last week pushed this year’s number of homicides to 35, two more than in 1992, Ventura County Deputy Coroner Craig Stevens said.

The number is still well below the record high of 59 homicides each in 1974 and 1979, and a recent high of 48 homicides in 1991, Stevens said.

“There’s really no rhyme or reason to the fluctuations,” Stevens said. “The only thing unusual is that while our population has increased, the homicide numbers have decreased.”

Since the coroner’s office began keeping tally in 1974, homicides have averaged 33.5 a year.

In Simi Valley, there have been no homicides so far this year, for the first time since the city’s Police Department began keeping its own records in 1975.

“I hope this doesn’t jinx us,” said Simi Valley Detective Robert Hopkins of the department’s Violent Crimes Division. “But if we make it through the year, it will be a first. We’ve never had a problem with gangs or murders related to robbery, but every year we have at least one murder involving loved ones, family members, acquaintances or friends. It’s usually a heat-of-passion type of thing--something spontaneous by people who know each other.”

Hopkins said most homicide victims are killed by acquaintances or family members, but other violent crimes can lead to an increase in the homicide rate.

There have been 13 homicides in Oxnard so far this year, the highest number in the county. The city of Ventura has had seven slayings, while Santa Paula has had two. There have been eight in areas patrolled by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

In Port Hueneme, an increase in violent crimes and gang activity has led to a rise in the number of homicides, from none in 1990 and 1991 to five so far this year--one homicide shy of the city’s record, a Police Department spokesman said.

In the most recent slaying, Port Hueneme police fatally shot a man earlier this month after he allegedly brandished a shotgun in front of a gas station.

During the 12 months since November, 1992, there have been eight homicides in the city, said Sgt. Dennis Fitzgerald of the Homicide Division.

“We’ve had a bad year,” Fitzgerald said. “We had a few years where we didn’t see any homicides. It’s unpredictable. I couldn’t say why, except when the homicides are associated with other violent crimes. But how do you control against domestic violence?”

Three of the homicides in Port Hueneme remain unsolved, Fitzgerald said.

“You can go home, but you don’t forget about them,” Fitzgerald said. “I know officers that have retired and still think about cases. They still call in and ask about them.”

Overall, this year’s numbers are well within an average range for a given year, the coroner’s office said.

The unsolved slaying of a young couple in Santa Paula last month was the first in the city this year. Santa Paula averages about two homicides each year, a Police Department spokesman said.

“Per capita, Ventura County is still well below the state average for homicides,” said Stevens of the coroner’s office. “There’s really been no significant change in the numbers.”

Ventura County Homicides

Year Total 1979 59 1980 40 1981 27 1982 35 1983 23 1984 32 1985 23 1986 42 1987 20 1988 30 1989 23 1990 22 1991 48 1992 33 1993 35*

*Through Nov. 19, 1993

SOURCE--Ventura County coroner’s office