DOWNTOWN — A 31-year-old homeless man was in custody Thursday for allegedly murdering a Santa Monica woman and an elderly man whose bodies were found in the older victim’s Culver City home, police said.
Zackariah Lehnen, 30, knew the victims, but the exact relationship was not disclosed by police. Lehnen was arrested at 1:30 a.m. in West Hollywood, according to wire service reports.
Police said the victims are 27-year-old Erica Escobar of Santa Monica and 89-year-old Lucien Bergez, a native of France and a World War II veteran.
Officers were called by a maid to the modest home in the 4000 block of Huron Avenue near Washington Boulevard around 10 a.m. Tuesday after the bodies were discovered inside the home, police said.
A cause of death has not been released and authorities are still trying to determine a motive.
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