Slain Man’s Calm Nature Recalled

Under a cloud of uncertainty, friends and relatives gathered Saturday to remember Dr. Kenneth Stahl, the Huntington Beach anesthesiologist who was found, along with his wife, shot to death last weekend on a deserted mountain highway east of San Juan Capistrano.

The doctor’s mother, in an interview before the private graveside service, also said that police investigators will use a series of funerals and memorial services in the next week to gather signatures from people who knew Stahl and his wife, Carolyn Oppy-Stahl.

Bobbie Stahl-Polley said she can’t imagine whom police might be investigating within the couple’s inner circle.

“We haven’t the foggiest,” she said. “We’ve racked our brains. These people are clean as snow. Their friends are all professionals. . . . We knew them.”

Detectives often collect handwriting samples to compare them to notes, checks or other writing that may be linked to a crime.

An Orange County sheriff’s spokesman tempered the family’s speculation, however, and said investigators are merely exploring every avenue they can to solve the killings. Investigators are also exploring theories that the couple were victims of a carjacking, road rage or a random shooting.

“They are exploring all possibilities,” said sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino.

“They are not zeroing in on one aspect. It’s not centered or focused on that one thing. You must look at that--but you must look at everything.”

Stahl, 57, and Oppy-Stahl, 44, an optometrist, were found shot to death Nov. 20, slumped upon one another inside their 1996 Dodge Stratus. The car was discovered, its engine running, along a remote stretch of Ortega Highway about 1 1/2 miles east of the entrance to Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park. A Mission Viejo Ranch security guard discovered the bodies.

The couple had spent that evening, a Saturday, in San Juan Capistrano celebrating Oppy-Stahl’s birthday, which was the day before. They had been married for 14 years.

Investigators say no shell casings were found at the scene, suggesting that a revolver was used, or that the killer took the time to collect evidence of the crime. Detectives have said that a murder-suicide has been ruled out. The couple had been shot numerous times.

About two dozen relatives and friends prayed and shared hugs at a graveside service for Stahl at Pacific View Memorial Park in Newport Beach on Saturday afternoon.

Shortly before being seated, guests were asked to sign a bound registry book presented to them by a funeral worker. It is unclear whether that was the method used by detectives to collect writing samples, or whether the guests were even told that the police were collecting their signatures.

During the half-hour service, Stahl was remembered for both his easygoing, fun-loving nature and his devotion to an accomplished medical career. A California native, he graduated in 1968 from the University of Health Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kansas City, Mo.

In June 1985, then-Gov. George Deukmejian appointed Stahl to a three-year term on the state Board of Osteopathic Examiners.

At Huntington Beach Hospital, Stahl was known for the calming, reassuring effect he had on patients, friends said at the service.

The anesthesiologist was also honored for his military service, and funeral workers presented his mother with a folded American flag, which she then handed to Stahl’s son. His son, who is from a previous marriage, is studying occupational medicine in Houston.

Oppy-Stahl’s private graveside service will be held this week, said Stahl-Polley, of Newport Beach.

The family will hold an open memorial service for Stahl and Oppy-Stahl at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, 600 St. Andrews Road, Newport Beach.