Man Accused of Killing Wife in Rage

Police arrested a 54-year-old auto mechanic Tuesday on suspicion of stabbing his estranged wife and running over her repeatedly with a minivan as residents of a Northridge neighborhood watched in horror.

Samuel Baca Duran was booked on suspicion of murdering Teresa Ramirez Duran, 56, Monday about a block from their red house on Community Street. What triggered the attack remains unclear, police said.

The Durans were married for about 30 years and had two adult children.

They were divorcing and selling their house, said Mike Oppelt, a homicide detective for the Los Angeles Police Department. In April, Teresa Duran, who worked at a speaker company, obtained a restraining order against her husband alleging violence, Oppelt said. “The marriage had been deteriorating for some time,” the detective said.

Duran was convicted in 1988 of assault and mayhem for attacking a city inspector who confronted him about an illegally tall wall outside his Northridge home. The attack left the inspector blind in one eye. Duran was sentenced to seven years in prison.

During the trial, the victim, Calvin W. O’Daniels, testified that a sign posted at Duran’s house read, “Never mind the dog. Beware of owner.”

On Tuesday, officers arrested Duran at a bank in Warner Center, where he was cashing a check. Detectives knew that a company would be giving him a check and guessed that he would take it there.

“Everybody was extremely worried about [Duran] not being in custody,” Oppelt said of those who knew the couple. “Everyone is breathing a little easier.”

Several neighbors said the Durans had a long history of fighting and yelling.

Police gave the following account of the killing:

About 6:10 p.m., Samuel Duran drove a rented minivan into the compact car his wife was driving, forcing it into a parked pickup truck on the 8300 block of Vanalden Avenue. He then got out and stabbed her with a knife.

Screaming, she tried to run, but Duran knocked her down and got on top of her as he continued to stab her. He then ran over her repeatedly before driving away, police said.

She died at the scene.

Stunned neighbors saw the attack in the tree-lined neighborhood, just east of Tampa Avenue between Roscoe Boulevard and Parthenia Street.

Several tried to stop the killer, police said.

“He was actually smiling, like he was happy about it,” Michael Jeffries, 27, said of the attacker. Jeffries said he hit the man in the head with a passerby’s mountain bike and tried to pry the knife from his hands.

Pablo Potter, who has lived in the neighborhood for three years, saw the attack.

He did not know the Durans, but on Tuesday he cried as he visited the crime scene, now covered with red roses, daisies and candles. “This is sad. A lot of small children roam this street. This street is full of nice families.”

The white 2001 Ford Windstar allegedly used in the attack is missing, police said. It had tinted windows, no license plates and a Galpin Ford sticker in the window, police said.

Duran is being held on $1-million bail. His arraignment is scheduled for Thursday.

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Times staff writers David Pierson and Noaki Schwartz contributed to this story.