Man Arrested On Suspicion Of Murdering Roommate In Panorama City
PANORAMA CITY (CBSLA.com) — A man was in custody Tuesday for allegedly murdering his 48-year-old female roommate.
On Monday, a front desk officer received a call a citizen who reported that someone was trying to dispose of a body in the 8700 block of Sepulveda Boulevard.
Upon their arrival, detectives discovered the body of a deceased woman inside of a closet. Her identity is being withheld pending family notification.
"What is interesting about this incident is that it started with a phone call to the front desk, and detectives had to put together the pieces of the puzzle to just find the body," explained Lt. Kathleen Burns.
According to police, the body had been there for a few days.
A preliminary investigation revealed the victim was roommates with Mario Villalobos at the time of the incident. Villalobos was in the process of evicting the victim, which caused several arguments, and subsequently resulted in her death.
Villalobos was arrested on suspicion of murder, and is being held on $1 million.
Anyone with information regarding this case is urged to contact the Los Angeles Police Department's Mission Homicide Detectives at (818) 838-9948.