Employee Sought in Slaying of Janitorial Company Owner

The owner of a janitorial service was shot and killed in the driveway of his Van Nuys home, and police were searching for one of the victim’s longtime employees as a suspect, authorities said Friday.

Robert D. Norris, 49, was shot to death about 10 p.m. Thursday after he walked out of his garage to speak to a man in a car in front of his home in the 7100 block of McLennan Avenue, Detective Jim Vojtecky said. His wife and teen-age son were at home at the time of the shooting, police said.

“He had been working in the garage,” Vojtecky said of Norris. “The suspect drove up and stopped. Norris came out and had a very brief conversation with him.”

Following the conversation, Norris was hit once in the upper body by a shot fired from the car and fell to the driveway where he died. The car, a green 1971 Ford station wagon, sped away.

Police said descriptions of the car and gunman provided by neighbors and other evidence led them to look for Richard W. Bullinger, 33, of Reseda, who had an ongoing dispute with the victim. He had not been arrested by late Friday.

Norris owned Bob’s Janitorial Service, which has been based in Canoga Park for 17 years and serves office buildings, restaurants, bars and other businesses.

Bullinger had worked for Norris at least 10 years, Detective Pat Anguiano said.

The motive for the shooting was not known, but the two men had an ongoing dispute over money, possibly including finances from the business, Anguiano said. The two apparently argued earlier Thursday before the shooting, police said.

On Friday afternoon, police served a search warrant at the house where Bullinger lived alone, but they refused to disclose what evidence was taken from it.