Widow Alleges Theft by Sister, Others : Lawsuit: Police are investigating claim that Larry Sasse’s belongings were stolen after he shot his two young children to death, then killed himself.

About two weeks after Larry Sasse shot his two young children to death and killed himself, his widow has filed a lawsuit alleging that Sasse’s sister and others took the dead man’s cars, guns, cash and belongings.

Simi Valley police are investigating the alleged theft, Lt. Tony Harper said Wednesday, but he declined to say who the suspects are.

And Larry Sasse’s estate is headed for probate court, said Gary Nevers, the attorney for widow Debra Sasse. There, said Nevers, the family will very likely seek an out-of-state court order to reclaim items the couple owned jointly.

It began on Father’s Day.

Larry Sasse, apparently distraught that his marriage was failing, shot Breanna Sasse, 4, and Michael Sasse, 3, in the head, then killed himself.

After their deaths, the lawsuit alleges, Sasse’s sister Dyana Sasse and other unnamed defendants took $25,000 worth of property jointly owned by him and his widow from a Simi Valley mini-storage locker.

“This is community property, which should go to the spouse,” Nevers said. “It is, we believe, not appropriate that the property be taken.”

Dyana Sasse took her brother’s 1988 Honda and a 1984 Toyota pickup truck, says the suit, filed Friday in Ventura County Superior Court.

Dyana Sasse could not be reached for comment Wednesday at home in Tempe, Ariz.

But her daughter, Heather Hatfield, said that Dyana Sasse has taken none of Larry Sasse’s possessions, other than those given to her by police: both vehicles and the jewelry he was wearing when he died.

Hatfield said that Simi Valley Detective Kathy Shatz gave Dyana her brother’s keys, telling her to take the car and the truck.

Dyana Sasse and her daughters then drove both vehicles back to Arizona the day that Breanna and Michael were buried in Simi Valley, Hatfield said.

Hatfield said Shatz had told them, “If you need me to show you [the cars], I’ll take you there. Here’s the keys to the car, here’s the keys to the truck.”

“My mom assumed she was telling her to get the cars,” Hatfield said. “I think any average person would have assumed she was telling her to take the cars. . . . This was not all us saying, ‘Let’s get all his stuff and take it home.’ ”

However, Shatz has reported that she told Dyana Sasse simply to move the cars closer to Larry Sasse’s house, and that she never intended them to be taken to Arizona, said Lt. Harper.

“The keys were given to Dyana,” Harper said. “However, they were given to her for the purpose of getting the car, which was parked over at someone else’s house.

“Kathy’s understanding was that Dyana was going to move the car and bring it to a safer location,” Harper said. “But she never gave authorization for them to take it to Arizona. . . . Kathy knows that that has to go through probate.”

Hatfield also denied the lawsuit’s charge that her mother had emptied a locker at Simi Valley Mini Storage of any of Larry Sasse’s belongings.

The property listed in the suit range from stereo gear and televisions to furniture and power tools. The locker also contained a Ping-Pong table, a collection of 1,000 vinyl record albums and pairs of cowboy boots made of ostrich, boa, snake and eel skin.

And, says the suit, Dyana Sasse and others took Breanna’s and Michael’s toys.

The suit also accuses Dyana Sasse and others of taking $1,000 from Larry Sasse’s Bank of America account after his death.

Not true, said Dyana Sasse’s daughter.

“The stuff isn’t the concern here,” Hatfield said. “[My mother] doesn’t care about the stuff. I don’t know where they got that from. We didn’t take anything. We got the cars.”

The lawsuit asks for a court writ ordering return of Larry Sasse’s possessions to his widow, and reimbursement of legal costs.