Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Fugitive Charged With Murder in Explosion

Murder charges were filed Tuesday against a fugitive parolee being sought in the killing of Lynn Standish, the Pearblossom woman who died last month in an explosion that also seriously injured her young son.

Scott Douglas Hamby, 31, has been charged with murder with the special circumstance of death by an explosive device, which means if convicted he could face the death penalty, authorities said.

Hamby was also charged with a count of possessing an explosive device and two counts of exploding a destructive device causing injury.

He is believed to have manufactured the bomb that killed Standish, 33, a single mother of three, who died May 20 when she discovered a pipe bomb while hunting for recyclable goods in the desert near her Pearblossom home.

Standish’s 4-year-old son suffered leg injuries in the same explosion and is expected to undergo surgery. His 9-year-old brother escaped injury.

At the time of the fatal blast, Hamby was being sought on an arrest warrant for violating his parole in an unrelated criminal matter, authorities said.

A separate warrant has been issued for Hamby’s arrest in connection with the murder charges, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. John Spillane.

Hamby is described as a white male, 5 feet, 9 inches tall, with brown hair, blue eyes, a mustache and weighing about 180 pounds. He has a tattoo of a rose on one shoulder.

Spillane said the investigation is ongoing but so far Hamby has been identified as the lone suspect in the case.

It remains unclear whether Hamby intentionally left the device or simply discarded it along the dirt road near 106th Street, authorities said. Evidence discovered at the scene linked him to the crime, they said.

Authorities have described Hamby as a parolee with a history of manufacturing and possessing explosive devices and as “extremely dangerous.”

He was arrested in 1989 on criminal conspiracy charges and again in 1992 for drug use and firearms violations and for possessing ammunition while a parolee, said Rosario F. Santillan, the supervisor of the Antelope Valley Parole Unit.

Following his arrest in 1992 Hamby was returned to prison and released in December of the same year.

“He continued to use drugs, and on Aug. 23, 1993, we suspended his parole and requested a warrant for his arrest,” Santillan said. “He became a parolee at large.” Santillan said authorities made several attempts to find Hamby since then, but were unsuccessful.