BELL, Calif. (AP) - A former Bell city council member who was elected after the Los Angeles suburb was mired in a corruption scandal was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of shooting his wife to death, authorities said.
Danny Harber, 76, was held on suspicion of murder after Donna Harber, 81, was found dead at a home in the city of Bell, according to a statement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Other details weren’t immediately released. Authorities didn’t immediately mention a motive for the shooting.
“Such horrible news for the community,” Violeta Alvarez, a former City Council member, told KNBC-TV. “It could not be possible. It could not be possible for someone who always expresses so much love for his wife.”
“I know he had been very saddened and frustrated with the mental health of his wife, which includes dementia,” Nestor Valencia, another former council member, told the station.
Bell, a city of around 36,000 southeast of Los Angeles, was the center of a 2010 corruption investigation into allegations that officials gave themselves enormous salaries and benefit and illegally raised taxes.
Seven officials, including the former mayor, city administrator and council members, were convicted of various charges.
Harber was elected to a two-year City Council term in 2011 when most of the council members were recalled and one member lost a re-election bid.
At one point, fellow council members chose Harber as vice mayor. But he lost his bid for re-election two years later by a handful of votes.
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