Officials Identify 2 Bodies Found at Burning Home

Authorities on Thursday identified the bodies of two people found shot to death at a hilltop mansion near Tustin that had been set afire.

John Tyler Hancock VI, 49, and his 77-year-old mother, Helen Bauerle, bled to death after being shot several times Wednesday at the home they had been renting for about six months in the exclusive Lemon Heights community, according to Orange County sheriff’s authorities.

Officials said Hancock had a history of high living, had spent time in federal prison and was under investigation for alleged fraudulent use of credit cards.

There are no known suspects, and authorities are searching for a missing 1995 red Ford Mustang with a personalized Arizona license plate--”ASHLEY”--belonging to Hancock’s teenage daughter, who was not in the home during the crime.

Hancock was found in the back yard and his mother was in the kitchen of the 4,200-square-foot home. The fire caused more than $1 million in damage to the home and its contents.

Law enforcement officials would not say whether they believe the killings are related to Hancock’s current legal problems or troubled past, which included several lawsuits and at least one conviction for mail fraud that landed him in federal prison for three years.

“At this point, we are not going to eliminate any possibilities,” said Sheriff’s Lt. Ron Wilkerson.

It took investigators much of Thursday to determine whether the two victims died from gunshots or burned to death in the fire. Neighbors had reported hearing screams and gunfire before seeing the blaze.

The latest chapter in Hancock’s problems began April 8, when Arizona authorities asked Orange County officials to assist them in a case of alleged credit card fraud in Parker, Ariz.

Arizona Sheriff’s Det. Mike Nuss is investigating an American Express credit card account in the name of Douglas McDonald, who was a tenant in the Sandpiper Resorts housing development in Parker.

Hancock was an investor in the resort and allegedly charged more than $40,000 on the card between November 1994 and November 1995, according to authorities. Hancock was being investigated for allegedly misusing other credit cards, investigators said.