Shooting results in arrest of woman

Deepa Bharath

NEWPORT BEACH -- Police arrested a 41-year-old woman early Thursday

morning on suspicion of homicide after a man was found shot dead in her

apartment.

Karen Elaine Mandilk called 911 about 5:30 a.m., saying she was

attacked by a house guest who was wielding a knife, said Newport Beach

Police Sgt. Steve Shulman.

Mandilk, who lives in the Newport Bluffs Apartment Village in the 4000

block of Rivoli, told dispatchers that she defended herself and shot the

attacker with a handgun, Shulman said.

Officers responded to the call and found a man in his 30s shot to

death, he said.

“They talked to [Mandilk] and then called out our detectives,” Shulman

said.

Investigators collected physical evidence at the scene and also

collected weapons they found at the home for further investigation, he

said.

“Detectives were somehow not satisfied with her answers,” Shulman

said. “They believed there were things that did not add up. So they

arrested her [on suspicion] of homicide.”

The victim has been identified as a “man in his 30s.”

Shulman said officials are still trying to determine who he was and

the nature of the relationship between him and Mandilk.

“But we do know for sure that he was neither a stranger to her nor an

intruder,” he said.

The apartment complex is an upscale, gated rental community near

Fashion Island. Apartment administrators said Thursday that they have

never heard of a similar incident in the complex.

Information relating to the circumstances of the incident were not

available Thursday.

Mandilk is being held in Newport Beach City Jail in lieu of $250,000

bail. Shulman said detectives are investigating the incident.

It is the first homicide arrest in Newport Beach this year, although a

Newport Beach man, Gary Holdren, died last month after possibly being hit

by paint balls while skating along the Back Bay.

There have been several arrests on attempted murder charges in

Newport-Mesa as well.

* Deepa Bharath covers public safety and courts. She may be reached at

(949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at o7 deepa.bharath@latimes.comf7 .