Couple Dead in Apparent Murder-Suicide

A quiet midtown neighborhood was thrown into turmoil Tuesday afternoon when a man apparently shot his wife and then himself in what sheriff’s investigators are calling an apparent murder-suicide.

Jerry Rokos, 65, and Marian Rokos, 61--were found about 30 feet from each other in the backyard of their home in the 200 block of Siesta Avenue, deputies said. A handgun was on the ground beside the man’s body.

According to neighbors, disputes were not uncommon between the couple. They said raised voices could be heard coming from the couple’s mustard-colored house on a regular basis. Sheriff’s investigators said they were looking at their records to see whether they had ever responded to a domestic violence call at the Siesta Avenue home.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if we had,” Sgt. Dave Paige said, “because the neighbors said they’ve heard them arguing two or three times a week. They must have been real verbal.”

The Sheriff’s Department received a call at 12:17 p.m. from a neighbor who said he was sitting in his backyard when he heard a woman’s voice followed by a gunshot, then a man’s voice and quickly another gunshot.

When deputies arrived they set up barriers around the house, fearing a possible hostage situation. Neighbors said they were shocked to see officers armed with shotguns walking up Siesta Avenue, situated behind Los Robles Regional Medical Center.

“This is such a nice, quiet street,” resident Carol Miller said. “And suddenly there was an officer with a shotgun on the corner.”

Miller said the deputy told her to go back into her house and watch from the window.

Late Tuesday afternoon, at the house across the street from the shootings, Wendy Posey and Jennifer Smith were piecing together what they had heard earlier that day.

“I heard somebody yelling ‘No’ like seven times,” Posey said. “It sounded like a man yelling, like somebody who was getting angry at a dog or something.”

At about the same time, Smith, an artist who was stenciling a pattern of roses and vines in Posey’s living room, said she heard what sounded like gunfire.

“I looked out, thinking it was my imagination or that maybe the kids had dropped something,” Smith said.

Seeing nothing on the street, Smith went back to what she was doing. It wasn’t until Posey walked to the mailbox and saw armed sheriff’s deputies on the street that she realized something was wrong. Both women sent their children to the back of Posey’s house.

“We thought maybe this was a hostage thing or something,” Smith said. “We didn’t know what was going to happen.”

Thirteen-year-old Paul George watched with his sister Jennifer, 15, as Ventura County coroners removed Jerry Rokos’ body and loaded it into a county vehicle next to his wife’s body. Paul said he and his friend had seen Rokos yelling at his wife a few weeks ago in the couple’s driveway.

“He was holding her against the garage,” the boy said. “I yelled out, ‘What are you doing?’ and he let her go.”

Neighbors described the couple as pack rats, with a garage overflowing with clutter. They were known for having several 1950s-era cars parked in front of their home and in their driveway. The man often worked in the garage on his model train set, neighbors said. A bumper sticker on one of the old cars boasts “My Other Car Is a Lionel Train.”