Couple Slain, Son Injured in Chatsworth Home

CHATSWORTH —  A film landscape specialist and his wife were shot to death and their teenage son was wounded, apparently by home invasion robbers, Los Angeles police said Wednesday.

Richard Landau, 43, and his wife, Donna, 39, were found slain late Tuesday in their secluded home on Owensmouth Avenue in Chatsworth. The couple’s younger son, Jonathan, a 15-year-old student at Chatsworth High School, was recovering Wednesday from a gunshot wound to his thigh.

LAPD Lt. Kyle Jackson originally said his investigators were searching for two men in their 20s, one of whom may have known one of the brothers--but late Wednesday night, police said they were no longer seeking any specific suspects. They gave no explanation.

Jackson said police suspect the killings occurred between 10:50 and 11:40 p.m., when the two men, at least one of whom was armed with a gun, gained entry to the family’s home, killed the parents and wounded the boy.

The couple’s older son, Jason, 18, a Chatsworth High School football player, was apparently out with a friend when the shooting occurred but came home later to find his parents dead and brother wounded, police said.

The older boy apparently drove his younger brother to an undisclosed location, where they called police and arranged to meet officers back at their house, police said.

The younger boy was treated at Granada Hills Community Hospital and transferred to County-USC Medical Center, where he was released shortly before 3 p.m. Wednesday. The brothers were questioned Wednesday night at the Devonshire Division station, police said.

“They were treated as witnesses,” not suspects, said Police Lt. Bob Normandy, but he added: “Everyone is a suspect. There are a lot of unanswered questions.”

The brothers are scheduled to be back at the station for more questioning today, he said.

Jackson said that, based on interviews with witnesses, the motive was robbery, although nothing appeared to be missing from the home.

Those who knew the family described them as a close-knit group who welcomed everybody into their home, which was a gathering spot for teenagers. Both of the boys, friends said, enjoyed a good relationship with Richard Landau, their stepfather who had adopted them, but they were particularly close to their mother.

“Jason loved his mom so much he wanted to get a tattoo of her name,” said Jared Morris, who described himself as a friend of the brothers.

The mother, who was on disability leave from her job with an airline, was sometimes seen with her sons at the local mall and would often invite their friends over to spend the night, friends said.

Her husband worked as a landscaper in the movie and TV industry. He worked on the set of “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” and all of the “Beverly Hills Cop” movies, friends said. Neighbors said they would often see trucks filled with plants parked at the home.

The sons were described as “best friends” who traveled in the same crowd of teenagers, often in the black car that the older boy had customized with fancy tires and a stereo, friends said. Jonathan would attend his big brother’s football games, they said.

“Wherever they went, they were always with friends,” said Michelle Charles, 17, who described herself as Jason’s former girlfriend. “They didn’t have any enemies.”

Larry McNutt, a next-door neighbor, said he often saw the boys hanging out with their friends listening to a radio outside their home, which has a solid brick wall and tall shrubs in front.

McNutt said the couple had moved to Chatsworth with their sons from a gated community in Sylmar just before the Northridge earthquake in a bid to escape crime and violence.

News of the killings shocked residents, who emerged from their homes and stared toward the Landau’s house in disbelief.

David Sandlin described the neighborhood as a good one but said that crime, including killings, has been increasing. “It just does not make sense. This is Chatsworth. This is a nice place.”

“What a scary thing to happen in my neighborhood,” said Yvonne Ben-Hur. “I just don’t believe it.

“People are not so rich here, what’s there to steal?”

One friend said Richard Landau had recently been laid off from his job. But other friends said the family lived comfortably and were known to carry a lot of cash. They apparently had a large film collection that they played on a big-screen TV.

Several of the brothers’ friends gathered Wednesday afternoon at the nearby Lurline Gardens apartment complex, where some of them live. The teenagers were anxious to talk to their two friends, who they were unable to reach throughout the day.

“They’re the last persons that I thought that would happen to,” said Bill Oberdick, 16, an 11th-grader at Chatsworth High.

Times staff writer Efrain Hernandez Jr. and correspondent Judy Torres contributed to this story.