LOS ANGELES — A 23-year-old transient was charged today with capital murder for bludgeoning an elderly La Verne couple to death shortly after Christmas in 2014 and stealing the wife’s cell phone.
Luke Mathew Fabela is scheduled to be arraigned today. Prosecutors will ask that he be held without bail.
Deputy District Attorney Tannaz Mokayef with the Major Crimes Division is prosecuting the case. Fabela is charged with the Dec. 26, 2014, murders of Shirley Isom, 74, and Armie “Troy” Isom, 89. Both died of blunt force trauma. In addition, she sustained sharp force trauma, Mokayef said. Their bodies were discovered at their hillside estate on Roughrider Road. Investigators called the crime a “blitz attack”. The prosecutor said the only thing taken was Shirley Isom’s cell phone. DNA led authorities to Fabela.
He is charged with two counts of murder with the special circumstance of multiple murders in the commission of a robbery; one count of second-degree robbery; and one count first-degree residential burglary. The complaint also has a personal use of a deadly weapon allegation. Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek the death penalty against Fabela.
The case remains under investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
