LOS ANGELES – Two suspects have been arrested in connection to the fatal stabbing of an 84-year-old man in the Hancock Park section of Los Angeles, a crime that may have started as a burglary, police announced Friday.
Los Angeles Police Department officers responded to the 100 block of North Rossmore Avenue, near Wilshire Country Club, around 3:50 p.m. Wednesday to investigate reports of a possible stabbing victim.
“Upon their arrival, officers discovered the victim, who was unresponsive, suffering from a severe laceration,” according to an LAPD statement. The Los Angeles Fire Department responded and pronounced the victim deceased at (the) scene.
The victim, later identified by the county medical examiner’s office as Gary Nelson, died inside a residence.
“Through investigative efforts, West Bureau Homicide detectives were able to identify two suspects responsible for the murder,” according to the LAPD, which reported that the joint FBI/LAPD Fugitive Task Force — with FBI Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Probation and the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation — located the suspects at a Palmdale residence.
Assisted by LAPD Metropolitan Division SWAT officers, both suspects were taken into custody by detectives on Thursday and a weapon was recovered. Specifics about the weapon were not provided.
The suspects, 41-year-old Rolando Guardado and 45-year-old Madeline Fresia Rivas, both of Palmdale, were arrested on suspicion of murder and were being held without bail, according to the LAPD.
Rivas was jailed at the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood and Guardado at the Inmate Reception Center in Los Angeles, according to online Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department records
“The motive is believed to be burglary-related, and detectives are trying to determine if there is a connection between the victim and suspects,” police said.
Anyone with information that could held detectives investigating the case was urged to call the LAPD’s West Bureau Homicide at 213-382-9470.
