Mission Viejo Killings Jolt Condo Residents : Shootings: Neighbors of the murder-suicide victims say there never was a hint of trouble between the two.

To residents of the Baja Finisterra condominium complex, Janice Beliavski and Joseph Leroy Black were a couple who seemed to have very little in common.

She was a straight-forward, highly-motivated career woman and single mother who still found time to sit on the board of her homeowners association. He was a low-key, unassuming man who never seemed to have a job, neighbors said.

Still, their 10-year relationship seemed solid, and they continued to spend time together even after the 45-year-old Black moved out of his 46-year-old girlfriend’s condominium, which overlooks the golf course of the Mission Viejo Country Club.

But on Thursday night, their lives came to a sudden and violent end when, authorities said, an intoxicated Black, armed with a knife and a gun, forced his way into the condominium and attempted to sexually assault and shoot Beliavski’s teen-age daughter, before turning the gun on Beliavski, who died trying to protect her daughter. Black then committed suicide with the pistol.

“I’ve known them for years, and I never would have expected anything like this to happen,” said neighbor John Cowart. “It’s a shock.”

The tragedy began unfolding at about 6 p.m., when Black arrived at the condominium in the 26000 block of Poveda. Beliavski was out shopping at the time and her 15-year-old daughter was home alone, said Orange County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Lt. Dan Martini.

“He made sexual advances towards the daughter and she retreated to the bathroom,” Martini said. “Once she was inside, the suspect fired four rounds at the bathroom door.”

At this point, Beliavski arrived home and began struggling with Black.

“I heard blood-curdling screams, then I heard (Beliavski) saying, ‘I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Please don’t!’ ” recalled downstairs neighbor Candy Fergeson, who called police after hearing the gunshots.

“I ran outside and yelled up to the window, ‘Leave her alone! Don’t touch her!’ ” Fergeson said Friday. “I yelled that I had called the cops. Then I heard: Bam. Bam. Bam. Three more shots. I called 9-1-1 again and I said, ‘He’s killed her.’ ”

During the shooting, Beliavski’s daughter ran from the bathroom and managed to escape by jumping through the screen of her second-story bedroom window, landing on the ground 12 feet below.

“Obviously, it’s a very tragic situation. But it was very fortunate that this young lady handled it the way she did,” Martini said. “Her will to survive and quick actions prevented a further tragedy.”

The daughter was met by a neighbor who took her to safety. She was taken to Mission Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo where she was treated for a severely sprained leg, cuts and bruises. She is now being cared for by relatives, Martini said.

Shortly after shooting Beliavski, Black turned the handgun on himself and committed suicide. When SWAT team members broke down the front door of the condominium, they found the bodies of the couple near the bathroom.

Before the grisly discovery was made, authorities feared they might have a hostage situation, so they evacuated a number of neighbors in the 118-unit complex and also cleared the adjacent golf course, Martini said.

The shootings perplexed both neighbors and police. There apparently was no history of domestic violence between the two and Black was not known as much of a drinker.

“I don’t think I ever saw him with even a beer in his hand,” Fergeson said.

Fergeson said Black had moved out of the condominium about two years ago because he had gained custody of several of his young children.

“(Beliavski) said that they couldn’t live with her,” the neighbor said. “He got an apartment in Irvine. But he would still come over all the time and they would do things together.”

Little is known about Black’s background. He had worked in real estate loans in the past but hadn’t any type of job for at least a few years, the neighbors said. He had served on one of the association’s committees for more than a year.

“He was involved,” Cowart said. “This seems so out of character from anything I’ve ever known about him.”

Beliavski worked as a free-lance court reporter and had been successful enough to purchase the condominium and other properties, Fergeson said.

“She was a real go-getter and always seemed to be in a hurry,” Fergeson said. “Joe owned nothing and had nothing. For a single woman, she did quite well.”

The last time Fergeson saw Beliavski, she said, the woman was digging in a box in her garage for a 50-year-old wedding invitation that she was going to use to surprise a friend or relative on an upcoming anniversary.

Cowart, who served with the victim on the association’s board of directors, said that on the morning of her death, Beliavski had called him to confirm a fact for the association’s newsletter which she had just completed that day.

“She was very dedicated and very thorough,” he said. “She worked all the time and didn’t have a lot of time for socializing. I always thought she was a very nice lady who seemed to make the most of her time.”