Man Held in Fatal Stabbing of Girlfriend

Police arrested a Granada Hills man Friday at a vacant Van Nuys Airport building on suspicion of stabbing his girlfriend to death while the two were parked near the airfield watching planes, authorities said.

Los Angeles police said 40-year-old Marco Violante and his girlfriend, Martha Vasquez, 35, were parked at the end of Waterman Street, where people often watch planes take off and land on the adjoining runway.

Authorities were called about 12:40 p.m., after Violante had argued with Vasquez and stabbed her, Officer Don Cox said. Vasquez was pronounced dead at Valley Presbyterian Hospital, Cox said.

Cox said Violante was arrested an hour later. A knife believed to be the weapon used in the slaying was found nearby, Cox said.

A representative from an aviation company near where police made the arrest said the building where Violante was found is a former flight school that has been unoccupied for some time.