Judge’s Aunt, 84, Is Slain After Surprising Thieves

The 84-year-old aunt of a prominent Van Nuys Municipal Court judge was beaten to death after returning from the store and surprising thieves who had broken into her home, authorities said Friday.

The body of Grace Perrin was discovered by a neighbor Thursday at about 4:30 p.m. near the back door of her small, well-kept house in the 14400 block of Miranda Street in Van Nuys.

She was the aunt of Judge Jessica Perrin Silvers, who signed the search warrants for a 50-officer sweep of residences of Valley Asian gang members Friday. But police said the killing appeared to be motivated by robbery with no connection to the anti-gang action, which took place after Grace Perrin’s death.

The thieves made off with jewelry and other personal items, LAPD Van Nuys Homicide Det. Stephen Fisk said.

Perrin, described as an active woman until medical troubles left her frail a few years ago, was beaten on the head and bruised on the chest, authorities said.

“This is just one in a million,” lamented her nephew, David Perrin. “It seems to happen to kind, loving people all the time, but never happens to bad people.”

Silvers did not return calls for comment.

The judge faced violence herself in 1988. Silvers was a deputy city attorney prosecuting a case in Van Nuys Superior Court when the defendant pulled a gun and held it to her head. Silvers was rescued after a bailiff killed the defendant in a gunfight that left the bailiff wounded.

The incident sparked an outcry for increased courtroom security, resulting in the placement of metal detectors at the entrances to Van Nuys Municipal and Superior courthouses.

Later, two Van Nuys courtrooms were converted to high-tech fortresses for trials involving potentially violent defendants and spectators at a taxpayer cost of $140,000. The project drew some criticism for its cost, but Silvers remained a vocal safety proponent.

Perrin, a 40-year resident of the block, was the widow of Lee Perrin, a percussionist in the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra from 1951 to 1955.

Cancer and a heart operation had left her unable to participate in the folk dance and yoga classes she took at Valley College well into her 70s.

“She was still spirited, but she had become a more fragile person,” said neighbor Jill Jacobson-Bennett.

“She was such a cultured woman, talking about the Ahmanson [Theater] and other places she used to frequent,” said another neighbor, who wished to go unidentified.