Divorced Couple, Son Found Shot to Death : Violence: Family had a history of arguments, neighbors say. Authorities have yet to sort out who pulled the trigger.

A divorced couple and their adult son were found shot to death Thursday in what appeared to be “two suicides and a homicide,” Los Angeles police reported.

The coroner’s office will have to determine who shot whom, Police Lt. Kyle Jackson said.

David Zipp, 60, his ex-wife, Carolyn, 58, and their son Scott, 29, were found dead in Carolyn Zipp’s house in the 17600 block of Gledhill Street about 8 a.m., Jackson said. He said handguns were found near both Scott and David Zipp’s bodies, which were found very close together.

A neighbor described David Zipp as “a gun nut” who said he usually carried a pistol.

A cleaning woman working in a house nearby reported hearing shots around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, and a source close to the family told police they were fighting at the time, Jackson said. Over what, he said, “we may never know.”

Neighbors said David and Carolyn Zipp divorced several years ago following the gunshot suicide of one of their four sons, but that David Zipp, who often traveled on business, continued to live with his ex-wife when he was in town. Scott Zipp, who relatives said had a learning disability, lived with his mother.

David Zipp had returned from one of his long business trips less than two weeks ago, neighbors said.

David and Carolyn Zipp had frequent fights in the 20-odd years they lived in the house, said other residents of the quiet, well-to-do neighborhood.

When the sons were young, longtime neighbor Toni Taback recalled, David Zipp would “get very angry and yell and scream at the boys with a very foul mouth.” She also recalled him making disparaging comments about ethnic groups and using racial epithets.

A self-employed scrap-metal dealer, David Zipp was frequently on the road, neighbors said. “He used to brag about how much gold and silver he had around the house,” said Taback, a therapist who said she had talked informally to family members about their difficulties.

“He was a rather blustery guy,” she said. “He liked to brag. My sense was he had a big mouth and talked a lot.

“He was a gun nut. He always had a gun on him. The way he talked, it was like a small arsenal.” She added: “He’d say, ‘My business is rough and you’ve got to be ready.’ ”

Other neighbors recalled David Zipp boasting about a recent tussle in Texas, when he said he fought off highway robbers who tried to take his goods. They said he drove a battered Ford pickup to avoid looking prosperous.

While two of the other Zipp sons moved out long ago, neighbors said, Scott Zipp stayed.

A big man, Scott Zipp was well known in the neighborhood for his love of walking dogs and his zeal in trying to keep out what he saw as undesirable elements such as drug dealers. “He would try to intimidate people with his size and his mouth,” said Marie Watts, 19.

“He bragged that he would get into fights with people,” added Marie’s mother, Julie.

Neighbor Bob Ennis, 66, who has lived in the neighborhood 20 years, said he believed Scott would have fought to protect his mother. “If there was a problem, he would probably side with her,” Ennis said.

Taback said Carolyn Zipp was overweight, and mostly stayed inside the house before she broke up with her husband. She then lost a lot of weight and started going out with other men, Taback said.

But within a couple of years, she had regained the weight and returned to mostly staying in the house and painting pictures of clowns, she said.

Despite the family’s reputation for fighting among themselves, David and Scott Zipp were friendly to outsiders, and would greet people on the street, neighbors said. They frequently aided their neighbors, for example helping with home repairs after the Northridge earthquake, neighbors said.

Jackson said there were no signs of a break-in. David and Carolyn’s cars were both parked in their accustomed spots in the driveway, but Scott’s car was nowhere in sight, neighbors said.

Some neighbors were skeptical that family violence led to the deaths, recalling a shouting match Thursday in which Scott yelled at a man not to follow him home, calling the man “a drug dealer.”

And many thought the family was too close to fall victim to violence. “Scott idolized his father,” Julie Watts said.

Times staff writer Chip Johnson contributed to this story.