Culver City police arrested a 31-year-old transient for suspicion of murdering a man and woman in a Culver City home.
Zackariah Timothy Lehnen was arrested in a West Hollywood alley about 1:30 a.m., May 5. He was a non-revocable parolee, meaning that he was unsupervised and not required to report to a parole agent.
Lehnen is suspected of killing Erica Evelyn Escobar, 27, of Santa Monica and Lucien George Bergez, 89, in Bergez’s home at 4033 Huron Ave. in Culver City.
On May 3, a maid found the bodies and phoned Culver City police, who arrived about 10 a.m. Detectives believed the victims had been killed within the prior 24 hours.
A homicide investigation resulted in Lehnen’s arrest.
“It is our belief that this was not a random crime,” a Culver City police spokesman said in a statement. “The investigation has led us to believe that the suspect was known by both victims. At this time the nature of the relationships is unknown.”
Lehnen has prior convictions stemming from domestic violence, robbery and narcotics charges. He was listed as a non-revocable parolee and had no outstanding warrants.
Police Chief Don Pedersen described Lehnen as a “very dangerous individual” during a press conference, where he announced that he was “confident” police had found the killer.
It was unclear if any weapons were recovered from the crime scene or the arrest scene.
Anyone with additional information was asked to call the police department at (310) 253-6309.
