Los Angeles, February 21. Los Angeles police are investigating Tuesday into the motives that led an acquaintance of Catholic Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles David G. O’Connell to shoot him last Saturday at his home.
Carlos Medina, 65, was arrested on Monday after a confrontation with the authorities when he was barricaded at his home.
The suspect is the husband of O’Connell’s housekeeper, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Chief Robert Luna told a news conference last night.
Luna said the motives for the murder of O’Connell, one of the Los Angeles community’s most beloved clergy for his fight on behalf of migrants and those in need, are under discussion. investigation.
O’Connell, 69, was found dead last Saturday afternoon at the home of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in the town of Hacienda Heights, where he lived alone.
The cleric was found in his bedroom with “at least one gunshot wound to his upper body”, Luna explained.
Investigators found no signs that the home had been broken into.
Medina was connected to the crime scene after surveillance video showed a vehicle he owned entering the O’Connell home last Saturday.
Luna said the suspect, who had also worked on repairs to the bishop’s residence, said O’Connell owed him money.
Medina is being held on $2 million bail.
Archbishop of Los Angeles José H. Gómez praised O’Connell’s work and lamented the manner in which he died. “We are deeply disturbed and saddened by this news,” he said in a statement.