Trial starts in ice cream store murder...

Trial starts in ice cream store murder

Opening arguments began Wednesday in the trial of Gilbert Garcia,

accused of shooting the owners of the Laguna Beach Baskin-Robbins ice

cream store, killing one and critically wounding the other in 1995.

Simindokht Roshdieh, 52, died after being shot in the throat and

her husband, then-63-year-old Firooz Roshdieh, was seriously wounded.

The trial is expected to last up to two months, Deputy Dist. Atty.

Susan Schroeder said.

“This case has been thoroughly, thoroughly investigated,” Laguna

Beach Police Capt. Danell Adams said. “We left nothing open to chance

and made sure every door we possibly could close was closed.”

Resident cited after apartment fire

Police cited a 22-year-old Laguna Beach resident Tuesday on

suspicion of possessing less than an ounce of marijuana after

firefighters extinguished an early morning blaze that engulfed her

bedroom.

Ingrid Tomasson reported that her computer had started a fire at

6:58 a.m. in the two-bedroom apartment in the 100 block of San Tropez

Court that she shares with three others. Firefighters arrived at 7:06

a.m. and prevented it from spreading to the rest of the building,

Battalion Chief Mark Baker said. The fire caused about $35,000 in

structural and property damage.

When police officers arrived at the apartment, they saw a water

pipe and a canister of marijuana in plain view on the dining room

table, Sgt. Jason Kravetz said.

The container held 9 1/2 grams of marijuana, and Tomasson

admitted to police that the pot and the pipe were hers.

Firefighters believe the fire started from the power strip to the

computer, which had multiple plugs and was connected to other

extension cords with multiple plugs, Baker said.

“It was a snake-bed of extension cords upon extension cords,”

Baker said. “Whoever set it up had no regard for fire hazards.”

Two of the four occupants suffered from smoke inhalation trying to

put out the blaze, but both refused treatment.

The three-story apartment building, containing about 10 units, is

worth about $2 million, Baker said.

-- Mike Swanson