Housekeeper Arrested in Death of Beverly Hills Man

Beverly Hills police have arrested a housekeeper on suspicion of murder after her elderly employer was found stabbed to death in his North Rexford Drive home.

Investigators offered few details about the killing Tuesday, which was the city’s first in more than two years and occurred less than a block from police headquarters.

Neither police nor a spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroner’s office would identify the victim late Tuesday because they had not yet reached the next of kin.

The victim, who neighbors said appeared to be in his late 70s or early 80s, was found dead at 8:32 p.m. Monday after someone called an ambulance to his home in the 500 block of North Rexford Drive, police said.

Meanwhile, police had detained the housekeeper, who was seen walking in the immediate area of the residence. Neighbors who were contacted Tuesday said the woman was unclothed, but police would only say that they were responding to a call about a suspicious person.

Police arrested the housekeeper on suspicion of murder after the ambulance crew called them from the house, said Lt. Al Munoz-Flores. Detectives had been unable to identify the woman, who was being held without bail in the Beverly Hills jail, he said, adding that the woman appeared to be in her 40s and was booked under the name Jane Doe.

Few of the neighbors contacted Tuesday said they actually knew the victim, although they often saw him as he came and left his single-story home--which they described as a “tear-down” by local standards.

Terrie Gerber, who lives two doors from the victim’s house, said she thought the housekeeper had lived at the house. Gerber said she would sometimes see the housekeeper walking home from shopping trips.

Gerber also said she did not see the woman Monday night, but that other neighbors told her that she was seen outside of the house without clothes.

A man who answered the telephone at the victim’s house declined to comment Tuesday.