Transient Held in Death of Burbank Tanning Salon Manager

A transient shot and killed the manager of a Burbank tanning salon Monday, and was arrested minutes later by officers who found him eating dinner at a nearby restaurant, Burbank police reported.

Police said they had not determined a motive for the bizarre killing in the West Coast Tan salon in the 300 block of East Alameda Avenue. There was no evidence of robbery, Sgt. Scott Wilson said.

Lorraine Jean Niere, 23, of Burbank was pronounced dead at Thompson Memorial Hospital in Burbank about an hour after the 5:05 p.m. shooting, Wilson said. She had been shot several times with a semiautomatic pistol, Wilson said.

Officers arrested Paul Blades, 28, at a Sizzler restaurant at Glenoaks Boulevard and Providencia Avenue, about four blocks from the tanning salon, Wilson said. Police said Blades was a transient who came to California from Louisiana about one month ago. He still had the pistol believed used in the slaying, Wilson said.

Blades was being held without bail at the Burbank city jail on suspicion of murder.

The shooting occurred during business hours near the back of the salon, Wilson said. There were several customers in tanning booths but none saw the shooting, he said.

Employees of the salon could not be reached for comment Monday evening.

Blades had been seen near the tanning salon earlier in the day, Wilson said. Employees of a nearby Round Table Pizza said they thought they had seen Blades sitting on a bench outside the salon minutes before the shooting.

About 5:20 p.m., employees saw the man running across the street from the tanning salon, said Adam Wiggins, an assistant manager at the restaurant, which is in the same mini-mall as the salon.

Waiter Frank Gutierrez said he saw the man in the pizza restaurant the day before and asked him to leave after several hours because he looked suspicious. The man wore a black jacket, had a long beard and long hair and “looked like a bum,” Gutierrez said.

“I asked him to leave because he was sort of strange,” said Gutierrez, who had served the man two beers Sunday. “He just left. He didn’t talk to me.”

The man returned Monday about 2 p.m., Wiggins said, and ordered two beers. He left between 4:30 and 5 p.m. and was then seen outside the tanning salon, Gutierrez said.

“I was shocked” when told of the shooting, Gutierrez said. “It’s crazy.”