Duarte Man Arrested in 3 Slayings

A Vietnam veteran was arrested Saturday night on suspicion of killing his wife, their son and his father-in-law during an argument at their Duarte home earlier in the evening, authorities said.

“Deputies were called to the scene of a family disturbance, and when they got there they found three dead of gunshot wounds,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy David Cervantes.

The shootings took place about 6 p.m. in the 900 block of Lewiston Avenue and left several neighboring homes and cars pockmarked with bullets, authorities said.

Deputies found the bodies of Wanda Smith, the suspect’s wife of more than 30 years, and Murray M. Smith Jr., 32, in the front of the home. Wanda Smith’s age was not released by authorities. The body of her 82-year-old father, Joshua Harmon, was found inside.

Murray M. Smith Sr., 56, was apprehended in his Cadillac more than two hours later during a traffic stop in Irwindale, said sheriff’s Sgt. Richard Longshore. An assault rifle was found in the car, he said. Smith was being held without bail at the Temple City sheriff’s substation.

“There was an awful lot of gunfire,” Longshore said. “It was a miracle that more people weren’t killed.”

Smith does not have a prior criminal history, he said, and the motive was unknown.

The killings were the first homicides since 2002 in the city of nearly 22,000, located at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains. The three slayings make this Duarte’s deadliest year in more than a decade.

After the shooting, family members gathered outside the house.

The suspect’s stepson, Mark Bushnell, 34, of Tarzana said his stepfather, who worked at a Shell refinery, was a gun aficionado and had a history of violence aimed at family members.

“Her whole life, my mom was threatened by him every day,” Bushnell said. “He always told her he was going to be the one to end her life.”

He said his mother had not divorced his stepfather because “she didn’t know how to leave him.”

Verlinda Bee, 48, of Duarte said she had known the couple since they were teenagers.

“He was fascinated with his guns. He would say, ‘If you need someone taken out, let me know.’ But he always said it like he was joking,” she said.

Bee said she had seen the couple Friday night at a screening of the film “The Passion of the Christ.”

“They seemed as happy as could be,” she said.

Francisco Acosta, 60, said he believed age had calmed his long-time neighbor. In his younger days, the elder Smith, a muscular man, would get into tussles in the neighborhood, he said.

“He had no fear. He wasn’t afraid of anyone,” he said.

Another neighbor, Robert Chavarria, 34, described the suspect as “a nice person, but you could tell you wouldn’t want to be on his bad side.”

Times staff writer Jean Guccione contributed to this report.