Suspect in Slayings Found in Concealed Room at Father’s House : Crime: Two students were killed last fall in a possible case of mistaken identity.

The suspect in the savage shotgun slaying of two college students in Highland Park last fall was found cowering in a secret compartment in his father’s Rialto house and has been arrested on suspicion of murder, Los Angeles police said Friday.

Detectives say Nathan James Verdugo shot Richard Rodriguez to death Oct. 23 after crippling the victim with a leg wound. Verdugo then chased down Yolanda Navarro, shooting her as she lay huddled on a sidewalk, begging for her life, police said. Her futile pleas for mercy could be heard in a nearby fire station, but the firefighters were unarmed and felt incapable of challenging the gunman, officers said.

“I’ve been a police officer for 28 years,” said LAPD Detective Ben Lovato, the lead investigator in the case. “This is one of the most brutal crimes I’ve ever investigated.”

Ironically, Verdugo may have acted in revenge against the wrong people, mistakenly believing that the young couple were part of an angry altercation that had erupted earlier at a party in Glassell Park, the detective said.

Lovato said that among the evidence linking Verdugo to the slayings were his eyeglasses, found where he dropped them at the scene of the crime. The detective said Verdugo had been a fugitive since the slayings and was believed to have taken refuge at various times in Arizona and Mexico, hiding with the assistance of his father and brother.

On Thursday afternoon, police said, they learned that the home of the suspect’s 64-year-old father, Salvador Verdugo, had recently been fortified with wrought iron gratings. Believing that the suspect might be hiding there, LAPD officers, assisted by a Rialto Police Department SWAT team, raided the home Thursday evening.

Lovato said that after a brief search, the officers found the 22-year-old murder suspect in a spacious compartment that had been constructed recently behind a linen closet. The compartment was equipped with a light and containers to store drinking water, Lovato said.

Nathan Verdugo, who surrendered without resistance, was placed under arrest and was arraigned Friday on two counts of murder. His father and 32-year-old brother, Paul--both arrested Thursday on suspicion of harboring a fugitive--have yet to be arraigned.

Lovato said Rodriguez and Navarro, both 18, were among several dozen college students who attended a pre-Halloween party on Parrish Street the night of Oct. 22. For the most part, the party was peaceful, but around midnight a departing car scraped the leg of a woman guest and a heated dispute erupted.

Police were called, departing a few minutes later after order was restored. Officers said Rodriguez and Navarro, who had not been involved in the dispute, left the party about 2 a.m. Oct. 23 to drive to their El Sereno homes in Rodriguez’s car.

Verdugo, who had apparently confused Navarro with one of the young women involved in the altercation, chased them in his own car, Lovato said.

Police said that when Rodriguez slowed down on Huntington Drive near Monterey Road, Verdugo intentionally sideswiped Rodriguez’s car. After both vehicles stopped and the occupants got out, Verdugo allegedly drew a shotgun and the college students fled unsuccessfully for their lives.

Police believed from the outset that the suspect was being hidden by his father, but Salvador Verdugo denied it, telling a reporter in February that “if my boy would have done something like that, I would have taken him to the police station myself.” The elder Verdugo said his youngest son had tried to arrange a surrender, but couldn’t work anything out.

On Friday, detectives said there was no surrender offer, although Nathan Verdugo did leave messages on Police Department telephones saying he was innocent and was being framed by gang members.