The husband of Bishop David O’Connell’s housekeeper has been arrested on the charge of fatally shooting the Catholic bishop to his death and he is held as the alleged killer. No verifiable motive has been established yet.
Carlos Medina, the husband of O’Connell’s housekeeper, was arrested by a SWAT team at their home in Torrance, about 35 miles southwest of Hacienda Heights.
Killer vs Surveillance Video
Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell, 69, was fatally shot Saturday in the bedroom of his home in Hacienda Heights, an unincorporated community about 20 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said.
According to the sheriff, detectives investigating the case linked Medina to the crime based on a surveillance video that showed Medina’s sport-utility vehicle in the driveway of O’Connell’s home at the time of the killing.
A caller told authorities the alleged killer, 65, was acting irrationally and had made comments about O’Connell “owing him money.”
Detectives found no evidence of forced entry at the archdiocese-owned home. Medina’s wife was said to be cooperative with the investigating team. Based on reports, weapons were found at Medina’s home and were sent for ballistic tests.
A deacon who went to check on O’Connell after he failed to show up for a meeting found him dead at his home blocks away from the St. John Vianney Catholic Church.
What people say about O’Connell
“Although I personally did not know the bishop, I cannot tell you how many phone calls I’ve received over the last 48 hours of people who have worked with him in different capacities,” Luna said. “This bishop made a huge difference in our community. He was loved.”
Los Angeles Archbishop Jose H. Gomez said that O’Connell spoke fluent Spanish with an Irish accent and every day showed “compassion to the poor, to the homeless, to the immigrant, and to all those living on society’s margins.”
“He was a good priest and a good bishop and a man of peace, and we’re very sad to lose him,” Gomez said.
Janice Hahn, chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, said O’Connell was a longtime friend whom she first met while on the Los Angeles City Council. She said that in recent years O’Connell had devoted much of his time to helping immigrants arriving in the country.
“He devoted himself to supporting immigrants, not only making sure that they have food and shelter, but even helping immigrant children, unaccompanied minors, get into Catholic schools, and he helped them get into college,” she said.
The violent incident was the latest to astound religious leaders in Los Angeles.