Sylmar man pleads guilty to strangling mother, staging her suicide; shooting uncle to death and burying him in the backyard

A man police say strangled his mother and staged her suicide, after shooting and killing his uncle during a dispute, has pleaded guilty to their murders.

Marcel Gradvohl, 38, pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his mother, 67-year-old Maureen Gradvohl, and his uncle, 58-year-old Edward Steckel. He was immediately sentenced to 25 years to life, plus one year, for the use of a rope in the commission of a murder; and 25 years to life, plus four years, for the use of a handgun in the commission of a murder. Gradvohl was ordered to serve his sentences consecutively.

Officers from LAPD's Mission Area were called on the morning of Nov. 28, 2021 to the family's home in the 12600 block of Amboy Avenue for a suicide investigation. Gradvohl told the officers as they arrived that he had gone to the garage and discovered his mother hanging from a rope.

But the officers had doubts because Maureen Gradvohl's injuries were not consistent with her son's description of suicide, according to the LAPD. Homicide investigators were brought in and learned that Marcel Gradvohl was seen digging in backyard a few days earlier, and found what appeared to be a body.

In a confession, the LAPD says Gradvohl admitted to fatally shooting his uncle on Nov. 26, 2021 in a dispute, and later that day, strangling his mother. The next day, he buried his uncle's body in the backyard, then staged his mother's suicide in the garage, LAPD officials said.