Man Charged in 1995 Laguna Murder

Prosecutors said Wednesday they’ve charged a suspect in connection with a murder that has haunted Laguna Beach for nearly seven years: The killing of an ice cream parlor owner during a holdup.

The murder on Feb. 20, 1995, was the first Laguna Beach robbery to result in a slaying in nearly 30 years and came to symbolize rising crime in the seaside village. A tattooed robber fatally shot the store’s popular owner, Simindokht Roshdieh, 52, and wounded her husband, Firooz, 62.

After an investigation that was marked by years of dead-ends and false starts, authorities charged 29-year-old Gilbert Garcia with the crime. He stands accused of murder, attempted murder and possession of a firearm with a special circumstance of robbery, which makes him eligible for the death penalty, district attorney spokeswoman Tori Richards said.

Authorities revealed few details about how they came to identify Garcia as the suspect. They said crucial evidence was gathered through the district attorney’s gang database, which has information about gang members statewide. The data include physical descriptions, criminal backgrounds and types of crimes committed.

When investigators began looking at Garcia, they discovered he was serving a 25-year prison sentence for a carjacking in Los Angeles. He also was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon in San Bernardino, Richards said.

In Laguna Beach, news of the arrest was greeted with relief but also sadness for the family of the victim.

“Hopefully, [this will] bring some closure to this very heinous crime,” said Laguna Beach Police Chief Jim Spreine, who praised detectives for never giving up.

“We don’t have these types of homicides in Laguna Beach, and it frightened our community when it happened,” Spreine said. “It frightened our community to believe that someone would go into an ice cream store and kill an elderly woman over a small amount of money.”

The Roshdiehs had escaped political upheaval in Iran with their two children about 18 years ago and had moved to Southern California to rebuild their lives.

Merchants and customers described them as caring members of the community who served their ice cream with a smile and gave out free scoops to friends. They often worked 12-hour days, usually seven days a week.

It was 9:30 p.m. when the gunman entered the Baskin-Robbins store. He shot the couple and fled without taking any money. Police later said they believed the gunman had robbed several other stores, including an ice cream shop in Tustin, that night.

Firooz Roshdieh lost partial use of his arm because of the shooting but continued to run the ice cream shop before selling it two years ago.

A few weeks after the shooting, police made an arrest in the case, but prosecutors declined to charge the suspect, saying they could not be sure he was the gunman. His family insisted he was in Oregon at the time of the slaying.

With this week’s developments, friends of the Roshdiehs said they will be able to put the case behind them only if there is a conviction.

“Then I’d feel a lot better,” said Robert Sarhad, 47, owner of Chantilly, another Laguna Beach ice cream parlor.

Sarhad described the couple as “extremely nice people, hard working. They helped us a lot,” when he bought his business.”

The death of Simindokht Roshdieh, he added, was “very devastating.

*

Times staff writer Jack Leonard contributed to this report.