Accused Killer to Face Additional Murder Charge

A Norwalk man who is already accused of killing his estranged wife was charged Tuesday with an additional murder count in the bludgeoning death of an off-duty sheriff’s deputy who tried to help her.

Reuben Kenneth Lujan, 30, was charged last week in the Aug. 16 death of his wife, Monica Lujan, 26. The district attorney’s office on Tuesday filed a potential death penalty count against Lujan in the murder of Deputy Gilbert Madrigal, 45.

The additional charge adds the special circumstance of lying in wait, which is a death penalty offense.

Police believe Lujan bludgeoned his estranged wife and Madrigal with a concrete water meter cover as they talked in front of Madrigal’s Norwalk home. He lived two doors from Monica Lujan’s home.

Madrigal, a 25-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department assigned to the Court Services Division, suffered severe head trauma in the attack and remained in a comma for days. He died Saturday.

Officials said Reuben Lujan had been harassing his wife since they were separated in May and was arrested July 18 on suspicion of threatening her. He posted bail and was released.