LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Latest on the discovery of human remains found after a fire in Los Angeles (all times local):
5:20 p.m.
Police say a homeless California man killed his wife, dismembered her body and carried it aboard a train in a suitcase before lighting her remains on fire in a parking lot.
Los Angeles Police Deputy Chief Justin Eisenberg said Tuesday that investigators believe Valentino Gutierrez killed his wife last week in an abandoned restaurant in Pasadena and stuffed her remains into a large suitcase.
He says Gutierrez then boarded a light-rail train and after exiting the train, rode his bicycle with the suitcase in tow to the parking lot of a home improvement store in the Cypress Park neighborhood, where he set it ablaze.
Coroner’s officials have been unable to identify the burned remains, or confirm whether the person is a man or a woman. But police believe the victim is Gutierrez’s 31-year-old wife, Tiana Alfred.
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3 p.m.
A Southern California man has been charged with killing someone then burning the body.
Los Angeles County prosecutors said Tuesday that Valentino Gutierrez was charged with murder and arson.
Prosecutors believe the killing occurred on Jan. 31 inside an abandoned restaurant in Pasadena. The person’s body was found early the next morning after firefighters were called to a trash fire in Los Angeles. After firefighters extinguished the blaze, they found the remains.
Coroner’s officials have been unable to identify the burned remains, or confirm whether the person is a man or a woman.
Gutierrez is awaiting arraignment Tuesday afternoon. Prosecutors are seeking $2.1 million bail.
KNBC-TV said the killer had dismembered his victim, carried the body parts in a suitcase by train and then set the remains on fire
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7:25 a.m.
Los Angeles authorities say a suspected killer dismembered his victim, carried the body parts in a suitcase by train to a store parking lot, where he set the remains on fire.
KNBC-TV reported Monday that police arrested a 56-year-old man on suspicion of murder after the burning body was found outside a Home Depot last week. Officials have not released the identity of the suspect.
Coroner’s officials have been unable to identify the burned remains, or confirm whether the person is a man or a woman.
Police say investigators used security video to retrace the alleged killer’s steps from where the body was found burning to a crime scene several miles away in Pasadena. Officials say the footage shows the man with a large rolling suitcase on a commuter train.
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