Inquiry Into Pastor’s Possible Suicide Will Check Mental State

A psychological profile will be used to help determine if a Glendale church pastor who was facing child molestation charges committed suicide last month when he was struck by a truck on a freeway, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office has decided.

Walter Heroldo Solis, 54, of Arleta was charged Oct. 27 with molesting three girls in his office at Glendale Spanish Seventh-day Adventist Church. He was killed Nov. 29 on the Golden State Freeway near his home after he pulled his wife’s car onto the shoulder, raised the hood, indicating engine problems, and apparently walked into a traffic lane, where he was struck by a tractor-trailer, Los Angeles police said.

Citing the pastor’s despondency over his criminal arrest and statements from three witnesses who said Solis jumped in front of the truck, police said the death appeared to be a suicide.

However, Solis’ family and many members of the congregation disputed that finding, saying Solis was distraught but not suicidal. Solis had denied the charges against him.

The coroner’s office has not ruled on the death, and spokesman Bob Dambacher said Thursday that medical examiners on the case decided the physical evidence and witness statements do not conclusively point to suicide. He said the coroner’s office will attempt to compile a psychological profile of Solis through interviews with family members and those who knew him.

“We know how he was killed,” Dambacher said. “It is the mode of death we are concerned with. We don’t know whether this man took his own life or it was an accident.

“A fine line comes into play and we want some background. We want to go back into this man’s past.”

Dambacher said the coroner’s office is required by state law to determine the cause and manner of deaths that are not ruled natural. A psychological profile is infrequently used in a death investigations, Dambacher said. He said psychiatrists from County-USC Medical Center will conduct the investigation, which is expected to take several days.