Unsolved cases haunt police

Ryan Carter

BURBANK -- As Burbank Police make a plea for information on the 15th

anniversary of the shooting death of off-duty police officer Charles

Anderson, they’re stressing that his case isn’t the only one unsolved.

“There are other cases on the books, and we’d like to solve those,

too,” said Burbank Police Lt. Tim Stehr, who heads the agency’s Crimes

Against Persons Unit.

Anderson, 35, worked as a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy. On Jan.

24, 1987, he was shot in his home in the 1700 block of West Oak Street.

The case has vexed Burbank investigators ever since.

“We solve some cases immediately and others take years,” Stehr said.

“I think it’s been proven that the longer the case goes unsolved, the

harder it is to solve.”

Aside from the Anderson case, unsolved murders in Burbank include

Sarkis Antonyan, 27, who was shot multiple times on Sept. 14, 1999, as he

sat behind the counter at Pets R Us at 409 W. Victory Blvd. The Glendale

man had owned the store for four months.

Other unsolved cases:

* Jane M. Torosyan, 29, was shot and killed on Oct. 16, 1986, in front

of her apartment building at 322 N. Pass Ave., while on her way to work.

* Mary S. Duggan, 22, was found dead on June 9, 1986, in the trunk of

her vehicle in a parking lot at 3325 N. Glenoaks Blvd. She had been

suffocated.

* Tony R. Figueroa, 59, was found strangled in his apartment at 303 E.

Orange Grove Ave. on Jan. 3, 1984. He was lying on his back and had his

feet bound.

* Humberto Varela Jr., 29, was shot and killed at his home at 1116 N.

Frederic St. on Sept. 27, 1983.

* Thomas E. Wilson, 68, was shot and killed as he crossed the

intersection of Magnolia Boulevard and Screenland Drive on June 4, 1982.