Leads Sought in Killing of Placentia Man

Police spent Monday looking for leads in the weekend shooting death of a manufacturing plant owner whose body was found at his shop, officials said.

Edward B. Koch, 65, of Placentia was found dead Sunday afternoon inside ESM Manufacturing, the tool-and-die operation he owned on Segovia Circle.

“We’re trying to find paperwork to piece together what happened,” Police Investigator Corinne Loomis said at the plant, where officers had taped off the building.

Nothing appeared to have been stolen from the business, Loomis said. Other employees were at the shop sometime Sunday, but not necessarily when Koch was killed, police said.

Suzanne B. Koch, the victim’s widow, could not fathom why anyone would kill her husband.

“He had no enemies that I know of,” she said. “He was the best of husbands and the best of fathers.”

The couple moved to Orange County 16 years ago when Edward landed a job with a large corporation. He worked in sales before going into business for himself.

Police said they responded to a report at the business at 1:29 p.m., but they would not say who phoned in the report. Nor would they say if there were witnesses to the shooting.

Koch also is survived by three grown children, two of them from a previous marriage, his wife said. Born in New York, he enjoyed reading but had few interests outside of the business and spending time with family.

“We were always together,” Suzanne said.

Koch’s death was the third homicide this year in Placentia and the second in about two weeks.

A 25-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder after his baby daughter died on Thanksgiving Day, and a 20-year-old man was shot to death in September outside a football game in what was believed to be a gang-related shoot-out.