Suspect in 5 Killings Has a History of Mental Ills

A “struggling artist” who said he received messages from God before going on shooting sprees in Albuquerque and Los Angeles, leaving five people dead, had been institutionalized for mental problems at least twice but had no previous record of violence, authorities and acquaintances said Friday.

The refusal of employees at Universal Studios to let Nathan N. Trupp meet actor Michael Landon apparently set off the second round of shootings, which killed two security guards in front of the studios, Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said.

Trupp, 43, who purchased a gun Monday and allegedly used it Tuesday at an Albuquerque bagel shop before heading to Universal City, was in serious condition at St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank after being shot in the arm and chest by a sheriff’s deputy.

Shot and Captured

Trupp was shot and captured moments after he walked up to the main gate at Universal at 5:45 p.m. Thursday and opened fire on two unarmed Burns International Security guards, instantly killing Jeren Beeks, 27, of La Crescenta, and fatally injuring Armando Enrigue Torres, 18, of Los Angeles, who died Friday afternoon at St. Joseph Medical Center.

“Prior to the shooting of the guards, the suspect went on the studio tour. He also questioned several studio employees if he could talk to actor-producer Michael Landon but was denied access to Landon,” Sheriff’s Sgt. Ernie Roop said. “He eventually questioned one of the security guards that he eventually shot, asking if he could use their phone to call Landon.”

Trupp was told that he would have to use a pay phone to try to reach Landon, who produces and stars in the NBC television series “Highway to Heaven,” Roop said. Landon is not under contract at Universal Studios and was not on the lot at the time, a studio executive said.

Two days earlier--his birthday--Trupp allegedly walked into the Bagel Lovers shop in Albuquerque and fatally shot a woman and her father, who operated the family business. Then Trupp killed the woman’s husband when the man followed him out the front door, Albuquerque police said.

Left dead were Richard Wilt, 39, Jeanne Wilt, 37, and her father, Joseph Famiglietta, 63.

Albuquerque police said they planned to fly to Los Angeles on Sunday with a warrant charging him with three murders. Los Angeles authorities said Trupp will be charged with murder in the shootings at Universal Studios.

Officials and others who knew Trupp described him as long plagued by mental problems.

His brother, Philip Trupp, 50, a writer in Washington, D.C., said Nathan Trupp voluntarily entered a Baltimore mental institution for several months in the early 1970s for treatment for depression and was admitted earlier this year to the Trenton Psychiatric Hospital in New Jersey.

“His problems have always involved the opposite sort of things he has now done,” Philip Trupp said. “He was withdrawn, depressed, introverted, gentle. What we have here is a person who is not a murderer in his heart and soul. He never ever showed a violent tendency.”

Nathan Trupp, who was born in Baltimore, has lived in several areas of the Northeast and spent three years in the Haight-Ashbury section of San Francisco while attending an art school in the late 1960s, his brother said.

Philip Trupp described his brother as a “struggling artist” who worked with clay and painted but was never able to earn a living from it. He worked at odd jobs, such as casting dental plates, Philip Trupp said, and relied largely on money from a family trust fund that reportedly gave him $100,000.

Under a court order, Trupp was committed Nov. 25, 1987, to the Trenton Psychiatric Hospital, according to Mary Kay Risi, a spokeswoman for the state-operated facility.

Citing confidentiality laws, Risi declined to say why Trupp was committed. But she noted that such orders often are issued after a person voluntarily seeks help at a local mental health facility and then is referred to the state.

A judge in Trenton ordered Trupp released from the hospital last April 4, Risi said, based on the recommendations of psychiatrists and others who treated him.

“He was discharged by the court, which means he was no longer considered a danger to himself or others . . . he could bear the pressures of society,” Risi said.

Risi said Trupp was placed in a halfway house, but left after one day. Because his stay was voluntary, authorities did not look for him, she said.

Albuquerque police said Trupp rented a one-bedroom apartment there in early May. The apartment manager said he was a quiet tenant who did not work, had no car and usually traveled by bike, although he occasionally used a taxi.

Cab driver Wayne Key, 26, picked up Trupp at the apartment on Monday. Key said he took Trupp to get a New Mexico driver’s license and then to two gun shops, where he looked at handguns before buying a .38-caliber revolver.

Under federal and New Mexico laws, Trupp needed proof that he lived in the state to get the gun. He also had to answer questions on his background, including whether he had ever been committed to a mental institution.

The owner of the Gun Room, where Trupp bought the revolver, declined to comment on the sale other than to say that he had legally sold the weapon.

The cab driver said Trupp talked strangely about why he needed the gun.

“He said he needed the gun to shoot Nazis,” Key said. “I didn’t take him seriously because he was saying a lot of strange things. He said he heard voices. He said God was sending him messages. We went down one street where the street lights were still on and he said, ‘See that? That’s a message from God.’ ”

The cab driver said that when they passed one restaurant he warned Trupp that the food was bad there. Trupp mentioned a bagel shop near his apartment that also was bad, then said he wanted to practice shooting his gun, Key said. The driver took him east of the city to secluded Tijeras Canyon.

“I was a little concerned when he was shooting,” Key said. “I stayed in the car and every time he looked at me he could probably see the panic in my eyes. But he never pointed the gun at me.”

When the two-hour ride was over, Key said, the fare was $85.90 and Trupp gave him $86, leaving a 10-cent tip.

The next morning, according to police, Trupp went to the Monzano Shopping Center, walked into the bagel shop and started shooting. Two customers ran out the door.

“He let them go,” police spokesman Tony Herrera said. “He seemed to only want the people who worked there.”

When taxi driver Key saw news reports on the shooting Wednesday morning, he called police. Trupp was then identified as the suspect and a police SWAT team stormed his apartment. He was already gone.

“If I had seen the news Tuesday, the guy probably would have never gotten to California,” Key said.

Authorities said Trupp is believed to have taken a bus to Los Angeles and checked into the Hollywood Land Motel on Ventura Boulevard, within walking distance of Universal.

Authorities said Trupp may have been heading back to the motel after the shooting when a Universal security guard flagged down a sheriff’s deputy and pointed him out. After Trupp was shot and was being treated at the scene by paramedics, he repeatedly called out, “Help me! Kill me!”

Deputies said he told them: “It wasn’t my fault, I was told to do it.”

Trupp’s brother said the reasons for his actions may never be known.

“I wish I could pin down one thing and say this is where it began,” Philip Trupp said. “But it is not that simple. Just because you are a struggling artist you don’t go out and buy a gun. He finally lost it. Why he lost it is anybody’s guess.”