Homicide investigators asked for help Wednesday identifying a man who was seen briskly walking away from a La Verne-area home where a wealthy elderly couple was killed at their doorstep on the day after Christmas.
Armie “Troy” and Shirley Isom died after an attack that occurred about 1 p.m. Dec. 26 at their home on Roughrider Road (map), on some 100 acres in the eastern San Gabriel Valley foothills.
They were “brutally murdered” in a “blitz attack” at or near their front door, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Division Lt. Dave Coleman said at a morning news conference at sheriff’s headquarters in Monterey Park.
Both victims sustained blunt-force trauma, and Shirley Isom had sharp-force trauma, Coleman said. Troy Isom was 89 and his wife was 74, detectives said after their deaths.
Surveillance video, eyewitness accounts and physical evidence found at the scene point to one person, Coleman said: a white or Hispanic man in his late 20s or early 30s who was seen outside the Isoms’ gate and then walking out of the neighborhood after the attack.
The man was in “hiking attire,” Coleman said, making a distinction from earlier descriptions that stated he may have been transient or homeless. After the killings, neighbors had described a man they saw leaving the property as “suspicious” and “scruffy.”
Standing 5 foot 6 inches to 5 foot 8 inches tall, the man wore a dark hooded jacket or coat and blue denim pants, and carried a duffle bag or backpack on his back, Coleman said. He was last seen near Live Oak Canyon Boulevard and Baseline Road about 1:30 p.m., the lieutenant said.
A weapon was recovered at the scene, Coleman said, refusing to describe any of the evidence.
A motive has not been established and investigators don’t know if the killings were random or targeted, Coleman said. Further, detectives are not certain if only one person was responsible for the violent deaths or if there are more people involved, he said.
The Isoms’ family was cooperating with investigators, and detectives were looking into the victims’ financial and business matters, Coleman said.
Anyone with information about the man described as a suspect was asked to call the Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. Anonymous tipsters may call “Crime Stoppers” at 800-222-8477, or texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to 274637, or by using the website lacrimestoppers.org.