CA - Alberd Tersargyan charged in 4 murders, Los Angeles, 2008 & 2010

[missingmydad]

Ok, I'm not very good at this, but I wonder if maybe the family immigrated for political reasons. Maybe they had made some enemies in their homeland that decided to come to the US to get them back. It doesn't necessarily mean they were involved in anything criminal.

I can not imagine having an enemy that I would want to hurt so bad that I would go to a different country for it. Sounds kinda crazy huh? It sounds like the FBI or US Marshals could check all flights in that time frame, from here to there. That would narrow the suspects down considerably. I guess a lot of this is easier said than done though. But if Iwas thinking someone from that country I would make sure I had all the names. Then again if you were a criminal, you may know bad people in America to do the dirty work for you. This world has just gone sick. I really do hope that the 15 year old has a new identity by now. How scary for her. When I first noticed this the other day I did not realize they immigrated from another country.

 

[justthinkin]

A number of things really puzzles me about these murders.
1. The oldest daughter found all three victims.
2. That the 8 yr. old was shot 5 mins. before her father, and yet she was found on a sofa, and he in his bedroom.
3. That the father's car was found parked several blocks away, and the LEOs think it had been moved there. Why would a killer move the car? That just makes no sense to me at all. Got it. The killer wanted to make the neighbors or friends think the dad had left for work, and no one was home. That fact seemed very important to the killer. Why?
4. That the mother was inside her vehicle when found shot in the back of the head. The only way that's possible as I see it is if someone was hiding on the floorboard behind the driver's seat, popped up, and shot her. An assailant standing outside the vehicle would have placed the shot behind her ear unless she was turned facing the passenger side when shot. Was the glass shattered? Was her window open? The articles don't say.
http://projects.latimes.com/homicide/post/khachik-safaryan/

 

[jjenny]

It has been reported that the mother was both shot and her throat was cut.
Why would someone do this?
It's such a bizarre case.

 

[lizzybeth]

Obviously, someone has a lot of anger towards this family. While I'm glad, I still can't understand why the older daughter has been spared and why has she always been the one to find her murdered loved ones. If I were her I don't even think I would trust the rest of my family. Poor girl.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Obviously, someone has a lot of anger towards this family. While I'm glad, I still can't understand why the older daughter has been spared and why has she always been the one to find her murdered loved ones. If I were her I don't even think I would trust the rest of my family. Poor girl.

That is what is so puzzling about this case. If there is someone out there that is trying to eradicate the entire family then why leave the oldest child alive when they easily could have waited for her to return from school and killed her too?

Why kill the young child who probably couldn't tell LE much information and leave the older child alive each time?:waitasec:

So strange.

IMOO

 

[IWannaKnow]

I cannot understand why the killer would wait for the older daughter to leave for school, then sneak in the house and kill the younger daughter and father then drive the car two blocks away from the house?? And why two (or a few) blocks?? It was a new car, it isn't like it just broke down. He had to know they would be discovered that day by either the mother or the daughter, so he didn't really buy himself any time with that move. And what was wrong with the younger daughter that she needed to be eliminated but not the older one? Either time? Because if he tracked mom and daughter to a different part of town to execute the mother, it is a choice not to eliminate the older daughter as well.....could or did she have a different mother/father?

I believe the 15 y.o. daughter is the key to this, in what ever fashion that unfolds....JMHO.

 

[Aqua]

bump...any more news on this case?

 

[SuziQ]

A man in his 70s has been arrested in connection with the slaying of three members of a Hollywood family, including an 8-year-old girl.

The suspect, whose name was not immediately released, was initially detained on an unrelated charge but police said they have evidence he is involved in the slaying that shocked the Little Armenia area, law enforcement sources told The Times.

More at link:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/04/hollywood-family-killed.html

 

[fhc]

A man in his 70s has been arrested in connection with the slaying of three members of a Hollywood family, including an 8-year-old girl.

The suspect, whose name was not immediately released, was initially detained on an unrelated charge but police said they have evidence he is involved in the slaying that shocked the Little Armenia area, law enforcement sources told The Times.

More at link:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/04/hollywood-family-killed.html

Thank you for the update. The link has updated too to include

Alberd Tersargyan of Los Angeles was taken into custody as detectives continue to investigate the mysterious killings. He told authorities he was in his 70s, but police believe he is 59.
McClure said police do not yet have a motive in the case, but sources familiar with the investigation say Tersargyan may have been obsessed with Hakobyan and was stalking her.

 

[i.b.nora]

Wow!!!

 

[NewMommy09]

Thank you for the update. The link has updated too to include

Alberd Tersargyan of Los Angeles was taken into custody as detectives continue to investigate the mysterious killings. He told authorities he was in his 70s, but police believe he is 59.
McClure said police do not yet have a motive in the case, but sources familiar with the investigation say Tersargyan may have been obsessed with Hakobyan and was stalking her.

They've changed the wording on that now to say that they believe he was obsessed with one of his victims and they've removed the part of about stalking completely.

 

[Belinda]

The only information about Alberd Tersargyan that I was able to glean is that he was arrested on 4/20/2010 and is being held with no bail at the Men's Central Jail in Los Angeles County. Jail records show him to be 73.

 

[lizzybeth]

They've changed the wording on that now to say that they believe he was obsessed with one of his victims and they've removed the part of about stalking completely.

So can we assume he was obsessed with the surviving daughter? Since he allegedly murdered everyone else in her family, if it is an obsession, it has to be her. I hope they've got the right man.

 

[i.b.nora]

From an AP article last night:

Man held in death of 1 of 3 LA family members

"A man was charged Thursday with the March murder of a Hollywood woman whose husband and youngest daughter were slain in 2008.

Alberd Tersargyan, of Los Angeles, was arrested Tuesday evening at his Hollywood-area home, Capt. Kevin McClure said. Police initially arrested him for weapons violations after finding several handguns and rifles, none of which were believed to be registered.

McClure said ballistics tests linked a small-caliber handgun to the March 26 slaying of Karine Hakobyan, 38, who was shot to death in a carport at her apartment complex. Prosecutors said she had arrived home and parked about 8 p.m. when Tersargyan shot her in the head."

and

"The family knew Tersargyan as a friend, McClure said. "He had the ability to go to the house."

The break in the case came Monday when detectives received new information that led them to investigate Tersargyan.

Authorities initially theorized the slayings were carried out by someone involved in a romantic relationship with one of the parents, but the investigation did not bear out that theory, said a law enforcement official who asked not to be named because the investigation was ongoing."

There is more...

 

[SuziQ]

So can we assume he was obsessed with the surviving daughter? Since he allegedly murdered everyone else in her family, if it is an obsession, it has to be her. I hope they've got the right man.

BBM. I'm thinking the same thing.

 

[i.b.nora]

Here is an article from today that contains some information especially about the murder of the father/husband and the sister/daughter that I have not seen before. There is nothing yet to link this Tersargyan to their murders, however it also talks about the murder of the mother and talks about how he knew them.

LA Slaying May Solve Mystery of 2 Others

"HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (April 23) -- Somebody really wanted to make sure Khachik Safaryan was dead.

An assassin shot the 43-year-old man through the right side of his temple, on each side of his forehead, and finished him off with a bullet to the chest. Safaryan's daughter Lusine, 8, was also killed with gunshots to each side of her head."

and

"The case remained unsolved for two years until Safaryan's wife, Karine Hakobyan, 38, was shot in the back of her head last month as she parked her car. Now authorities have arrested and charged a 73-year-old man" (Alberd Tersargyan) "with her murder. Sources believe he was romantically interested in Hakobyan, who spurned his advances, according to KTLA-TV in Los Angeles, quoting an unidentified family friend."

and

"Tersargyan knew Hakobyan when they both lived in their native Armenia, according to KTLA-TV. He also befriended Hakobyan's husband and daughter while still holding a romantic interest in the woman.

The Safaryan family immigrated to the United States several years ago after winning a contest that paid for their move here. Apparently Tersargyan moved, too."

and

"Then, on Dec. 11, 2008, the family's 12-year-old daughter returned home from school to a horrific death scene. Her younger sister was slumped on a couch in the living room, where a decorated Christmas tree stood next to a television set. In a bedroom, her father was lying on the ground, his head propped up against a nightstand and partially covered by a jogging suit. Blood spatters were on the wall, and a switchblade knife was next to his body, according to a coroner's report.

Detectives also found several cigarette butts on the foyer floor of the tidy home, but no shell casings. Neighbors reported hearing a popping sound at 2:27 p.m., half an hour before the bodies were discovered, the coroner's report said.

"This was a professional hit," LAPD Detective Michael Whelan told AOL News. "We think we have a motive behind all of this, but I can't discuss that now.""

There is more...

The details about the time of the shooting of the father and sister seems different than some of the early articles that I read. Not that it matters. They have got this guy for the murder of the mother, I imagine they will get him for the other murders as well.

 

[jjenny]

So can we assume he was obsessed with the surviving daughter? Since he allegedly murdered everyone else in her family, if it is an obsession, it has to be her. I hope they've got the right man.

The abcnews article says according to sources he was romantically interested in the mother, but she spurned his advances.

 

[Katherinekate]

maybe the man was trying to "break" the young girl so much as to make her more vulnerable? that is a long time between the murders, relatively. but. how do we know that there was not contact made, however obscure, between the murderer and the young girl? he may have approached her. one idea, anyway.

 

[Katherinekate]

changing his own age to make himself seem more vulnerable. seems like he knows a little abou the issue...of vulnerability and its psychological workings.

 

[jjenny]

changing his own age to make himself seem more vulnerable. seems like he knows a little abou the issue...of vulnerability and its psychological workings.

He might actually be in his seventies for all I know. Articles give conflicting information on that. Maybe he looks younger than 70.