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New Details Emerge in Shooting Death of Catholic Bishop

Police have named a handyman as the prime suspect in the murder of a Catholic bishop, who was found dead inside his Los Angeles home over the weekend.

Carlos Medina, 65, was arrested on Monday morning, after police surrounded his home in Torrance and convinced him to surrender following a multi-hour standoff, said Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna.

He faces charges in the murder of Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell, who was found dead with a gunshot wound to his upper torso in the bed of his Hacienda Heights home on Saturday, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police say Medina’s wife had worked as a housekeeper for O’Connell, and that Medina recently made ‘irrational’ comments about the bishop owing him money after doing occasional handyman work around his house.

Neighbors told the New York Post that Medina’s wife had cared for the bishop’s dog for roughly a decade, and that the accused killer also sometimes walked the clergyman’s dog himself.

The shocking murder first came to light at around 1pm on Saturday, when police and paramedics responded to a 911 rescue call for a person not breathing, and found O’Connell dead on arrival with a gunshot wound.

The sheriff confirmed that no gun was recovered from the scene of O’Connell’s murder, adding there were no signs of forced entry at the bishop’s home on Janlu Avenue, which is owned by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

He also noted that surveillance video had captured a dark colored compact SUV briefly parked in the driveway of O’Connell’s home at around the potential time of the murder. Medina drives a similar vehicle, Sheriff Luna said.

Luna said Medina came to the attention of investigators after a tipster contacted police to report that Medina was ‘acting strange, irrational, and making comments about the bishop owing him money.’

Detectives obtained a search warrant for Medina’s home, and a warrant for his arrest, and attempted to execute the warrants at about 2am on Monday, after a neighbor called in to report that Medina had returned to his Torrance home.

Deputies surrounded the home, but Medina refused to come out and surrender, according to Luna. A photo shared by a neighbor with KCAL-TV showed an armored vehicle and heavily armed SWAT officers gathered outside the home during the standoff.

For hours, the suspect remained holed up inside his home, before surrendering without incident around 8.15am, police said.

Luna said a search of the home turned up ‘firearms and other evidence possibly linking Medina to the crime’, including two guns that will be tested for a ballistics match to the murder weapon.

A neighbor told the Los Angeles Daily News that Medina was an ‘odd person’ who was up at all hours of the night to dig in his yard. ‘Always on the go, in a rush, and digging stuff,’ said the neighbor, Marty Hernandez.

‘I’m just shocked and overwhelmed,’ Hernandez told the outlet. ‘You wouldn’t know that you have somebody that lives next to your house that would do such a thing.’

Another neighbor, Luis Lopez, told the newspaper that Medina was a ‘good man’ and ‘always talkative,’ adding that though he had quirks, such as obsessively washing his car, even in the rain, he never showed a tendency to violence.

https://twitter.com/RinaNakanoTV/status/1627828044693123075?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1627828044693123075%7Ctwgr%5E9c257be9a942410b52899747c8d6abe4a8d4c584%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymail.co.uk%2Fnews%2Farticle-11773815%2FHandyman-65-arrested-killing-LA-Catholic-bishop.html

At a press conference, Sheriff Luna called O’Connell’s murder a tragedy, saying the bishop had ‘made a huge difference in our community’.

‘He was loved, and it’s very sad that we are gathered here today to talk about his murder in this way,’ said Luna. ‘He’s been a pillar in our community, known as a peacemaker, with a passion for serving those in need.’

The auxiliary bishop’s death was first announced by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, which called O’Connell a ‘peacemaker’ and a man of ‘deep prayer’ who cared for everyone during his 45 years with the Church.

‘He was a peacemaker with a heart for the poor and the immigrant, and he had a passion for building a community where the sanctity and dignity of every human life was honored and protected,’ Gomez said in a statement.

‘He was also a good friend, and I will miss him greatly. I know we all will.

‘Please join me in praying for Bishop Dave and for his family in Ireland. May Our Lady of Guadalupe wrap him in the mantle of her love, and may the angels lead him into paradise, and may he rest in peace.’

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