Firefighters Find Cypress Couple Dead : Man Found Hanged; Blaze Set to Hide Bludgeoning of Woman

A man and a woman were found dead at a Cypress house Tuesday by Orange County firefighters who had entered the home to fight a small fire.

Cypress police said the man was found hanged in the garage while the woman was discovered in a bedroom of the small one-story house. Sgt. Jim Weuve said the woman, identified as Laurie Olson, 29, died of bludgeoning to the head and upper body.

Weuve said the man had not yet been identified, but that he and Olson had lived together in the house. He said the fire had been “deliberately set to hide the bludgeoning.” An autopsy was scheduled for today.

Lt. John Schaefer said police on routine patrol noticed the blaze and called the Fire Department at 12:07 p.m., as did several neighbors at about the same time.

The fire was brought under control by firefighters within minutes of their arrival. Police and fire officials had no estimate of damage.

Neighbors who knew the couple said they had been romantically involved in the past, but had a history of violent domestic disputes. They said the couple had broken up and reconciled often.

Charles Elliott, who lives in a mobile home directly outside the burned home’s bedroom, said Olson and the man had argued at about 10 o’clock in the morning.”

“I heard an argument this morning, and it woke me up,” he said. “I just took it as a domestic squabble.”

Elliott said he left his house about 11 to go to the beach, adding: “When I came back, all of this was going on.

The neighbor said the couple “pretty much kept to themselves,” but that he occasionally spoke to Olson. “I just talked to her a couple of days ago. It didn’t seem like anything was wrong,” he said. “She looked chipper to me.”