Chatsworth Couple Killed in Their Home

A film landscape specialist and his wife were shot to death and their teenage son wounded, apparently by home-invasion robbers, Los Angeles police said Wednesday.

Richard Landau, 43, and his wife, Donna, 39, were found slain late Tuesday in their secluded home at 10354 Owensmouth Ave. in Chatsworth. The couple’s younger son, Jonathan, a 15-year-old student at Chatsworth High School, was recovering Wednesday from a gunshot wound to his thigh.

Police Lt. Kyle Jackson initially said his investigators were searching for two men in their 20s, one of whom may have known one of the brothers--but late Wednesday, police said they were no longer seeking any specific suspects. They gave no explanation.

Jackson said the slayings do not appear to be gang-related.

Jackson said police suspect the killings occurred between 10:50 and 11:40 p.m. when the two men, at least one of whom was armed with a gun, gained entry to the family’s home, fatally shot the parents and wounded the boy.

The couple’s older son, Jason, 18, a Chatsworth High football player, apparently was out with a friend when the shootings occurred, but he returned home later to find his parents dead and brother bleeding, police said.

The older boy apparently drove his brother to an undisclosed site where they called police and arranged to meet officers at their house, police said.

The younger boy was treated at Granada Hills Community Hospital and transferred to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, where he was released shortly before 3 p.m. Wednesday. The brothers were questioned for several hours Wednesday night at the Devonshire Division station, police said.

“They were treated as witnesses,” not suspects, Police Lt. Bob Normandy said. But he added, “Everyone is a suspect, there are a lot of unanswered questions.”

The brothers are due back at the station for more questioning today he said.

Jackson, citing interviews with witnesses, said the motive was robbery, though nothing appeared to be missing from the home.

Both of the brothers were interviewed separately by police Wednesday morning and are being treated as witnesses. But Jackson said neither of the youths have been ruled out as possible suspects.

Stunned friends joined curious neighbors Wednesday outside the family’s home. “They were just good people and this should have never happened to them,” said Jared Morris, who described himself as a friend of the brothers.

Those who knew the family described it as a close-knit group that welcomed everybody into their home, which was a gathering spot for teenagers. Both of the boys, friends said, enjoyed a good relationship with Richard Landau, their stepfather, who had adopted them, but were particularly close to their mother.

“Jason loved his mom so much he wanted to get a tattoo of her name,” Morris said.

Donna Landau, who was on disability leave from her job with an airline, would be seen with her sons at the local mall and would often invite their friends over to spend the night, friends said.

Her husband was a landscaper in the movie and television industry, where he worked on the set of “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” and all of the “Beverly Hills Cop” movies, friends said. Neighbors said they would often see trucks filled with plants parked at the home.

The sons were described as “best friends” who traveled in the same crowd of teenagers, often in the black Ford Escort that the older boy had customized with fancy tires and a stereo, friends said. Jonathan would attend his big brother’s football games, they said.

“Wherever they went, they were always with friends,” said Michelle Charles, 17, who described herself as Jason’s former girlfriend. “They didn’t have any enemies.”

Larry McNutt, a next-door neighbor, said he often saw the boys hanging out with their friends listening to a radio outside their home, which is blocked off in the front by a solid brick wall and tall shrubs.

McNutt said the couple had moved to Chatsworth with their sons from a gated community in Sylmar just before the Northridge earthquake to escape crime and violence. “They moved from Sylmar to escape this type of thing,” McNutt said.

News of the killings shocked residents who emerged from their homes and stared toward the Landaus’ house in disbelief.

David Sandlin, a resident, described the neighborhood as a good one but said crime, including killings, has been increasing. “It just does not make sense. This is Chatsworth. This is a nice place.”

“What a scary thing to happen in my neighborhood,” Yvonne Ben-Hur said. “I just don’t believe it.

“People are not so rich here, what’s there to steal?”

One friend said Richard Landau had recently been laid off from his job. But other friends said the family lived comfortably and were known to carry a lot of cash. They apparently had a large movie collection that they would play on a big-screen television, complete with a surround-sound stereo system.

“They were just really a wealthy family,” said Richard Gracey, 19, who had grown up next to the brothers in Sylmar.

Several of the brothers’ friends gathered Wednesday afternoon at the nearby Lurline Gardens apartment complex, where some of them live. The teenagers were eager to talk to their two friends, who they were unable to reach throughout the day.

“They’re the last persons that I thought that would happen to,” said Bill Oberdick, 16, an 11th-grader at Chatsworth High.

More than 50 friends and neighbors, many weeping openly, held a candlelight vigil before the family’s home Wednesday night.

Times staff writer Efrain Hernandez Jr. and correspondents Danica Kirka and Judy Torres contributed to this story.