Man Charged With Beverly Hills Woman's Murder
Posted by Daniel Antolin on Oct 28, 2011 - 5:09:50 PM
Beverly Hills sign courtesy of city's official website.
BEVERLY HILLS—On Friday, October 28, a 54-year-old Los Angeles man was arraigned at the Beverly Hills Superior Courthouse and charged with the murder of his 58-year-old girlfriend. She was found dead by local police during the afternoon of October 26 at her Beverly Hills apartment.
James Duane Grzeslo had been charged by the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office with one count of murder against Beverly Hills resident Cathy Ann
Carrasco-Zanini. The criminal complaint alleges that Grzeslo used a knife to commit the murder.
A preliminary investigation conducted by local police detectives and crime
scene investigators at an apartment located on the 100 block of North Hamilton Drive
revealed that the suspected murderer likely knew the victim, a Beverly Hills Police Department news
release states. Prosecutors claim that Grzeslo and Carrasco-Zanini were in a dating relationship.
Grzeslo was arrested on October 26 at 2:08 p.m., booking details indicate. He was
arrested at a nearby office building and booked into Beverly Hills Jail at 6:18 p.m. Grzeslo's bail has been
set at $1 million. If found guilty, Grzeslo would face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
BHPD has related that there are currently no other outstanding suspects.
Carrasco-Zanini's body
was found by police at the home in question on October 26 at about 1:48 p.m. She was murdered earlier that morning, a district attorney's office news release states.
An obituary published in the Los Angeles Times states that she was the mother Damian (Lea) Carrasco-Zanini and sister of Mark Nieman.
"She will be missed by all who knew and loved her," the obituary states.
Officers
had visited the residence on that date to conduct a welfare check, but
instead found Carrasco-Zanini's
body, the "apparent victim of a homicide." Lt. Mark Rosen told Canyon
News that police had been alerted to the home after having received a
call regarding suspicious circumstances there.
The woman's murder marks the first
such incident to take place in the City of Beverly Hills since the fatal shooting
of publicist Ronni Chasen in November 2010 during a random robbery.
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