3 Men Found Beaten Inside La Habra Shop

Three men were found severely beaten inside an auto repair shop Saturday afternoon, and police were trying to determine a motive, authorities said.

Police identified two of the men as Don Gilchrist, 41, of Bellflower and Cornelius Postma, 41, of La Habra. They were found inside Dr. Don’s Automotive at 621 W. Whittier Blvd., which Gilchrist owned.

La Habra Police Capt. John Rees said the beating does not appear to be part of a robbery.

The men were beaten so severely, investigators were unable to tell at first if they also had been shot, police said. Rees said no shell casings were found.

Officers recovered the weapons used in the attack but would not say what they are. Rees said the weapons were being checked for fingerprints.

Friends of Gilchrist said he, Postma and the third man were found bloodied and beaten inside a back room at the shop. Witnesses also said the men’s hands had been bound, but police would not confirm that.

The men were discovered when a worker at a nearby business went to Dr. Don’s about 2 p.m. but went back for help when he saw blood on the walls, said a shop owner who declined to give her name. When the worker returned with someone from another neighboring business, they found the injured men and called police, investigators said.

Gilchrist was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange, where he underwent surgery Saturday night, police said. Postma was being operated on at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, and the third man, whose name police would not release Saturday night, was taken to Friendly Hills Regional Medical Center in La Habra.

Rees said officers believe they’re looking for more than one suspect, saying it would have been hard for a single assailant to have beaten the three men so severely.

A friend of Gilchrist’s, Frank Bigham, who had come to the shop because he had heard about the beating, said he didn’t know anyone who would have wanted to hurt Gilchrist.

“He’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever done business with,” he said. “Good, honest auto mechanics are very hard to find, and God knows he was one of those.”

Gilchrist had been open only three months at his current location. His business had been located for three years at Euclid Avenue and Imperial Highway but had to move when the Pep Boys chain bought that lot, said Bigham, owner of the Car Mart used car lot. Plans to reopen on Bigham’s lot fell through, he said.

A man who worked for Gilchrist six months ago, who would only identify himself as Eddy, called his former boss “just a great guy. There’s not much more to say.”

Behind the yellow police tape, officers scoured the scene for clues under a pelting rain Saturday afternoon. Dr. Don’s is one of several automotive repair or parts shops inside the block-long La Habra Auto Service Center.

“It’s always quiet in this area. This is a real shock,” said Jason Small, a parking attendant at the Portofino Italian restaurant next door. “It’s always responsible, family-type people that come here.”

Gilchrist’s next-door neighbors in Bellflower described him and his wife as “a very nice couple, very good neighbors.” Another neighbor, 18-year-old David Stancius, said Gilchrist is “pretty friendly, but he just keeps to himself.”

Times staff writer David Haldane contributed to this report.