Woman Found Dead at School Is Homicide Victim, Authorities Say

A woman found dead on the steps of a Ventura elementary school this week was the victim of a homicide, authorities said Wednesday.

Marsha Ann Lane, a 43-year-old transient, was found by a schoolteacher about 7 a.m. Tuesday on the front steps of Lincoln School, 1107 E. Santa Clara St.

Authorities would not release the cause of Lane’s death because they are still questioning possible witnesses and others, Ventura Police Lt. Carl Handy said.

Lane, who listed Project Understanding--a homeless advocacy organization on East Vince Street in Ventura--as her home address, was known to frequent areas around west Ventura, Handy said.

“She was someone you’d call a street person,” he said. “She hung out in the west end.”

Lane was sentenced to probation and had to undergo anger management and parenting classes after being found guilty of willful cruelty to a child in 1994. She was also in court last month for a probation violation on a different incident in the fall, according to court records.

Authorities would not say whether they believe that Lane was killed on the school grounds or if she was killed somewhere else and moved to the school.

Although teachers and Principal Elke Fedde, made an effort to shield the body from children as they arrived, numerous students were whispering about the incident.

Fedde said she tried to speak to each of the classes at the kindergarten through fifth-grade school, and the Ventura Unified School District was planning to offer psychological counseling to the 290 students there if necessary.

Fedde said she looked at Lane’s body to see if she knew the woman.

“She didn’t look like anybody that I’ve seen in the area,” she said Tuesday.

Fedde also said that when she looked at Lane’s body, there did not appear to be any obvious signs of a violent struggle.

Investigators scouring the area for clues located some of Lane’s belongings under a bush near where her body was found.

Ventura Police Chief Richard Thomas said Wednesday that there were more than eight investigators initially working on the case--canvassing areas that Lane was known to frequent.

Thomas said the department’s strategy on all homicide cases is to use as many investigators as possible early while the leads are still fresh.