Chatsworth : Progress Slow on Slayings, LAPD Warns

Los Angeles police said Thursday that progress was slow in the search for the killers of a couple who were shot to death in their home, perhaps by robbers.

No suspects have been arrested in connection with the Tuesday night shootings of Richard and Donna Landau, who died from gunshot wounds to their upper torsos, according to autopsy results released Thursday.

The Landaus were gunned down in their home in the 10300 block of Owensmouth Avenue, and their youngest son Jonathan, a 15-year-old student at Chatsworth High School, was shot in the thigh.

LAPD Lt. Bob Normandy said detectives are awaiting toxicology and other lab results from samples taken at the crime scene and that the information will be used to guide the developing murder investigation.

“This is not going to be a quick solve,” Normandy said. “This one will take a while.”

Based on statements made by witnesses, robbery appears to be the motive for the crime, although police still have not determined whether anything is missing from the house, Normandy said.

Following the shootings, the Landaus’ eldest son, Jason, an 18-year-old football player at Chatsworth High School, returned home after being out with a friend to find his parents dead and his brother wounded, police said.

Normandy said both boys are being treated as witnesses, but that neither has been ruled out as a possible suspect, which is typical in a murder investigation. “Everybody is a suspect” until an arrest is made, he said.