Irvine Police Seek Clues in Pair of Slayings

Investigators struggled Wednesday to unravel the killings of two Irvine music instructors found dead in the condominium they shared.

The victims were identified as Guy Thomas Whitney, 60, and Lawrence Wong, 51. Both men were stabbed repeatedly. Wong was found in a bed in the three-bedroom condo; Whitney at the bottom of a flight of stairs.

The bodies were discovered Tuesday afternoon in the Solana condominium overlooking the Rancho San Joaquin Golf Course when an Irvine man arrived with his young daughter for a prearranged piano lesson. Allevato said a number of knives were found in the condo but he wouldn’t say whether any had blood on them. He also declined to say whether investigators had found a suspected murder weapon.

Drops trailing down the street from the condo that police initially suspected were blood turned out not to be, Allevato said. Investigators also weren’t certain about how many killers could be involved.

Those who knew Whitney described him as “gentle and kind.”

“He isn’t somebody who would hurt anybody,” friend Torrey Obray of Orange said.

Whitney was an accomplished cook, but his forte was music--particularly Bach, the friends said. Formerly of Texas, Whitney studied at the Juilliard School of Music in New York and earned a doctorate from USC. In recent years, he had been a voice coach and music instructor, and he recently opened a private conservatory in Irvine, according to a friend, Althea Ingram, who arrived at the quiet cul-de-sac midafternoon Wednesday with a bouquet of flowers.

Whitney had two pianos, one used to give lessons and the other for his own playing. He occasionally would use both instruments to engage some of his more accomplished students in musical duels.

“He was a wonderful teacher,” said the mother of one student, who asked not to be identified. “He was a wonderful person too. He was so nice. I am so sad about [this].”

Little was known Wednesday about Wong. Allevato said he also was a music instructor who is believed to have lived in North Hollywood before moving to Irvine.

Times staff writer Jack Leonard and librarian Sheila A. Kern contributed to this report.