Slaying Suspect Caught in Area Combed by Police

Authorities captured a suspected killer hiding in a quiet Laguna Beach neighborhood, just two days after he managed to slip away from the same spot.

Earlier in the week, Laguna Beach Police had told residents they were confident that the suspect, Mark A. Booher, 36, was no longer in the area. But authorities found Booher in the same neighborhood late Wednesday night after tracing phone calls the suspect made to his girlfriend and parents in Indiana.

Booher is believed to have eluded police by breaking into a vacant Sunset Terrace summer house located two doors away from the apartment in which he had been living, said Brian Salt, a supervisory deputy for the U.S. marshal’s service, which had been leading the manhunt.

About 50 heavily armed law enforcement officers wearing bulletproof vests and helmets stormed the area, cuffing Booher in hand and leg shackles, officials said. The arrest culminates a 72-hour manhunt that took officers through narrow streets and backyards, and included a search by a bloodhound on the nearby beach.

Booher is wanted in connection with the Jan. 9 robbery and stabbing death of an Indianapolis antiques dealer, Salt said. Authorities believe Booher called a friend in Laguna Beach soon after the slaying, and asked if he could stay there for a while. After hitchhiking across the country about seven weeks ago, he slept on his friend’s couch, a roommate said.

The three roommates who shared their apartment with Booher were questioned and released after authorities determined that they were unaware of Booher’s alleged crimes, Salt said.

The search for Booher began Monday, when police received a tip that he was in Laguna Beach. Authorities began combing the Sunset Terrace neighborhood, circulating his picture to residents.

A neighbor who recognized Booher from the police photograph told authorities where they could find him. Two plainclothes deputy marshals approached Booher as he was talking on a cell phone in his driveway, but Booher used a knife to hold them off. He then fled back into the apartment, jumped off a second-story balcony, and disappeared.

Deputy marshals, Laguna Beach police and Orange County sheriff’s deputies searched the area with dogs, but lost his scent. The search continued Monday and Tuesday throughout several beach and inland communities.

Authorities believe Booher eluded police Monday by breaking into the vacant home just a few doors away. They traced Booher to that home using wiretaps. Authorities returned to the neighborhood and surrounded the house, but instead of surrendering, Booher tried to escape again. This time, he ran back to the apartment where he was living, and was found hiding beneath the balcony he had jumped off two days earlier, authorities said.

Residents on Thursday were abuzz about all the police activity in their normally quiet community.

Michael McKenna, who took pictures as he watched the arrest from his third-floor balcony, likened it to a paramilitary operation.

“One of the squad commanders looked up and told me not to take any pictures,” he said, “but when he turned around, I took a picture of him.”

Sharon Briggs, who moved to the neighborhood just a few months ago, said she happened to step out on her balcony about 9 p.m. Wednesday to find armed officers creeping down the street.

“My word, this is a pretty little exciting neighborhood,” she said.

She wondered why Booher would return after he managed to evade police earlier in the week.

“I was thinking, how stupid to return. . . . If he got away once, why would he return?” she said. “I think he came back because he had no money and no clothes.”