Man Arrested in Wife’s Killing

Police on Tuesday arrested a 54-year-old auto mechanic on suspicion of murder in the death of his estranged wife, who was stabbed and run over with a minivan as residents of a quiet Northridge neighborhood watched in horror.

Samuel Baca Duran was booked at Van Nuys jail on suspicion of killing Teresa Ramirez Duran, 56, Monday about a block from their house on Community Street. He is being held in lieu of $1 million bail. Arraignment is scheduled for Thursday.

The motive remains unclear, police said.

The Durans had been married about 30 years and have two adult children. They were divorcing and selling their house, said Mike Oppelt, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. Last month, 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,” he said.

Duran had been convicted in 1988 of assault and mayhem for attacking a city inspector who confronted him over the excessive height of a 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.”

Officers arrested Duran on Tuesday at a bank in Warner Center.

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

Several neighbors, fearful of giving their names, said the Durans had a long history of fighting and yelling. “He would get angry,” one neighbor said.

According to police, about 6:10 p.m. Monday, Samuel Duran drove a rented minivan into the compact his wife was driving, forcing it into a pickup parked in the 8300 block of Vanalden Avenue. He got out and stabbed her with a knife, they said.

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

Teresa Duran was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy will be conducted today.

Stunned neighbors saw the attack in their tree-lined neighborhood, just east of Tampa Avenue between Roscoe Boulevard and Parthenia Street. Several tried to intervene, police said.

“He was actually smiling, like he was happy about it,” Michael Jeffries, 27, said. Jeffries said he hit Duran in the head with the mountain bike of a passerby and tried to take the knife away.

The white 2001 Ford Windstar used in the attack is missing, police said. It has tinted windows, no license plates and a Galpin dealership sticker in the window. Police ask that anyone with information call the LAPD’s Devonshire Division at (818) 756-8291.

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