2 Arrested, 2 Sought in Double Slaying

The search continues for two suspects in a mysterious July 30 double homicide in a Torrance office that police Thursday said stemmed from a dispute over who had a right to occupy the building.

Two men arrested a day earlier, Mark Pirante and Rogelio Quintana, remain at the Torrance Police Department jail without bail.

At large are William Ron Sullivan Jr., 20, and Timothy James Trujillo, 22, Torrance Det. Sgt. Rod Irvine said at a news conference at police headquarters. The men have prior weapons convictions, he said.

Sullivan, Trujillo, Pirante and Quintana argued with victims Michael Gheen and Ian Campbell over who was authorized to be in the building, Irvine said.

The leaseholder of the office near City Hall on Maple Avenue told police it was supposed to be a bail bond business, but police said it was being used as a flophouse.

“People were living here routinely,” Irvine said. So were a cockatoo, which belonged to the leaseholder, and a white pit bull, which belonged to a resident.

Neither the 33-year-old victims nor the suspects lived in the building, however, and Irvine was vague about what the suspects and victims’ connection was to the business or building’s leaseholder, as the investigation continues.

There were signs of a struggle before the slayings July 30, Irvine said. Gheen, of Perris, was shot once in the upper abdomen and left shoulder and Campbell, of Colton, once in the upper abdomen.

Campbell’s girlfriend, whom police did not identify, went to the building that evening and discovered the bodies.

A six-week investigation led police to search eight homes, two auto body shops and one storage facility in a sweep Wednesday through five South Bay communities.

Police subsequently arrested Pirante 44, and Quintana, 32, at their San Pedro homes.

Irvine declined to say who is suspected of actually shooting the victims.

Neither Quintana nor Pirante has confessed, and the murder weapon has yet to be recovered, the detective said.

But used shell casings found at the scene of the slayings are being compared with ammunition found during Wednesday’s search of at least one of the men’s homes.