Cerritos Couple Found Dead

An elderly couple were found dead Wednesday morning in their Cerritos home, the apparent victims of homicide, authorities said.

A friend called the Sheriff’s Department after she had knocked and no one answered at the home of Ernestine and Lamar Matthews, both 75, on Oak Crest Street. The couple, who were planning their 50th wedding anniversary, had planned to board a bus Wednesday with about 50 friends for a trip to an Indian casino near San Diego.

The friend, Versie G. Burns, 72, said she found the screen door locked but the front door open about 7:30 a.m.

Deputies found the bodies in different parts of the home. Both had suffered trauma, Sgt. Robert Longshore said. Authorities would not disclose further details but said the wounds were not gunshots and the couple had not been beaten to death. They also said the wounds were not self-inflicted.

There were no signs of forced entry, and it did not appear that anything of value had been stolen, Longshore said. Deputies said both of the couple’s cars were in the garage and their RV was parked in the driveway.

“They were a very devoted couple,” Burns said.

The Matthews, who had met at Miles College in Birmingham, Ala., were members of their college’s Los Angeles-area alumni group. Burns knew them through the group, which had sponsored the casino bus trip.

Ernestine Matthews was a former teacher for the Compton Unified School District. Lamar Matthews was a retired parole officer, Longshore said.