A suspect is in police custody in relation to the murder of La Verne couple Shirley and Armie Isom last year.
Luke Fabela, 23, had been arrested on an unrelated vehicle theft charge in January, and forensic evidence from a previous felony linked him to the La Verne murder case.
“We have not yet been able to establish his motive and we believe that he acted on his own,” Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau Sgt. Timothy Cain said.
Shirley Isom, 74, had been badly beaten and was stabbed to death and her husband, 89-year-old Armie Isom, had also been beaten to death.
They were found dead in their home in La Verne Dec. 26 by a groundskeeper and witnesses placed a white or Hispanic man in his late 20s or early 30s wearing “hiking attire” at the scene of the crime.
Witnesses were able to identify Fabela as the man they saw in police line-ups.
“We were also able to establish his route of travel before and after the crimes,” Cain said.
Fabela has had a history of past felonies, including a domestic violence dispute, but none of those crimes included weapon related charges.
–Kat Simonelli
