Man Held in Shooting Death of His Father at Ventura Apartment

A man accused of fatally shooting his father and then admitting the crime to two friends in a volatile, all-night confessional, was arrested early Friday, police said.

Lee Crowley, 43, was arrested by Oxnard police at 5:30 a.m. at the Heritage Apartments on E Street, following a tip from a resident that Crowley was heavily armed and planning to kill again, police said. Crowley remains in County Jail on suspicion of murder in lieu of $250,000 bail.

Ventura police found the body of Robert Crowley, 67, in his bedroom at the Gregory Apartment complex on Telephone Road at about the time his son was arrested. He died of a single gunshot wound to the chest from a large-caliber handgun, police said.

The slaying was Ventura’s first this year, police said. There was just one homicide last year, committed when an elderly man shot his wife and then himself in December.

A family friend said Lee Crowley and his father fought Thursday night over whether to drive to Los Angeles International Airport to pick up the younger Crowley’s identical twin brother, David, who was returning from Mexico.

After the shooting, Crowley allegedly stole his father’s wallet, Volkswagen and guns, then drove to an Oxnard friend’s apartment to confess the crime, according to Ben Ardanowski, who answered Crowley’s knock at about 10:30 p.m. Thursday.

“He walked in the door, pulled out his magnum and said he just killed his father,” said Ardanowski, who was napping at the time. “I thought I would be next.”

Crowley stayed with Ardanowski--waving his loaded gun and clutching a shotgun as well--for three hours before finally leaving and visiting an elderly woman across the apartment complex for another lengthy confessional, Ardanowski said.

“He said he felt bad and depressed . . . that he had just done something terrible,” said a 72-year-old family friend who identified herself only as Mazie. “He was crying.”

While Crowley remained with Mazie, Ardanowski rushed on foot to the Oxnard Police Station to report the volatile situation.

“[Crowley] was angry, bitter and coming apart at the seams,” said Ardanowski, 55, a school bus driver who had only known the younger Crowley for about a month.

Ardanowski said Crowley told him that he planned to kill a friend in Los Angeles. “He said he wanted to kill more people, and I believe it.”

After about two hours, Crowley returned to Ardanowski’s empty apartment. When he stepped back outside, a handful of Oxnard police officers were waiting for him.

“He put his hands up and surrendered like a lamb,” Ardanowski said.

Mazie said Crowley lived in the apartment complex with his mother for three years but moved out after his mother’s death from cancer in August. She said Crowley worked on and off as a janitor and car mechanic, and slept in several places, including her apartment, the elder Crowley’s apartment and with friends in Los Angeles.

She said Crowley was very close to his mother, but didn’t get along well with his father, who was a professional cellist. “They didn’t see eye to eye on a lot of things,” she said.

The elder Crowley had picked his son up at Mazie’s apartment just a few hours before the shooting and took him to the Ventura apartment, Mazie said. She said the pair were arguing that night over whether to pick up David at LAX Friday morning.

During his late-night visit, the younger Crowley told Mazie that his father had pulled the gun on him, but that he wrestled it away and then shot him at close range, she said.