Man Killed Outside Descanso Gardens

A 39-year-old man was stabbed to death and another man was injured Friday during a fight outside the tranquil confines of the Descanso Gardens in La Canada Flintridge.

The stabbing came on the eve of Descanso Gardens’ annual Festival of Flowers, scheduled to begin today. The site, known for its collection of camellias, roses and other flowers, is one of the nation’s premier floral attractions.

The identity of the stabbing victim, who was from Pasadena, was not released, pending notification of relatives. Thomas Schrader, 43, also of Pasadena, was arrested and booked on murder charges, said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Angie Prewett.

Authorities said they did not know why the men were fighting.

“They were friends, they got in an argument and it went overboard,” Prewett said. The two men had traveled to Descanso Gardens together, she said.

Deputies were summoned to the garden parking lot at 12:54 p.m.

The victim had a single knife wound to his chest, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman said. He later died at Verdugo Hills Hospital.

Schrader suffered “blunt-force trauma to his head” from an unknown object and was treated at the same hospital.

He was released into the custody of Sheriff’s Department detectives and was being held without bail at the Cresenta Valley sheriff’s station.