LOS ANGELES (AP) – An Ethiopian immigrant has been charged with capital murder in the stabbing deaths of his father and sister, whose bodies were found near freeways in Fresno and Santa Barbara counties.
Mulushewa Tebedge was charged Monday with two counts of murder and a special circumstance allegation of multiple murders. A Los Angeles County District Attorney spokeswoman says prosecutors have not decided whether to seek the death penalty.
Tebedge is accused of using a knife to kill his father and younger sister. His father’s dismembered body was found last week, stuffed in suitcases and a duffel bag and dumped near Interstate 5 in Fresno County.
Police said his sister’s body was dumped near Highway 101 in Santa Barbara County.
Suspect has a ‘history of mental issues’ LAPD says
By Jean-Paul Renaud, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
A South Los Angeles man who allegedly dismembered his father’s body and dumped the pieces beside a freeway near Fresno had a “history of mental issues,” police said Monday.
Los Angeles Police Cmdr. Pat Gannon said Mulushewa Tebedge, 33, used a knife to cut off his father’s arms and head in the family’s apartment last week to better “handle the body.”
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From a Times Staff Writer
November 26, 2007
A 33-year-old man was being held in Los Angeles County Jail on Sunday on suspicion of killing a 73-year-old Los Angeles man and his 33-year-old daughter, whose bodies were found near freeways in Fresno and Santa Barbara counties, police said.
Mulushewa Tebedge was arrested Wednesday after he jumped from a second-story window of a home in the 1200 block of West 39th Street in South Los Angeles and ran from police, officials said.
Police went to the house after hearing from the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department that a body found near Interstate 5 had been traced to the address.
While questioning Tebedge, detectives learned of the second victim, whose body was found off U.S. 101 in Santa Barbara, according to authorities.
The names of the victims were not released, but investigators found evidence linking Tebedge to the deaths, officials said. Investigators believe that the slayings took place in the 39th Street house and the suspect was “somehow related” to the victims, police said.
Tebedge is being held in lieu of $1-million bail and is expected to be arraigned today, Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman Karen Smith said.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact LAPD South Bureau homicide detectives at (213) 485-4341.
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By Sontaya Rose, KFSN-TV, www.abc30.com
11/23/07 – A body found in suitcases along Interstate Five in western Fresno County apparently wasn’t the only victim killed and dumped along a highway.
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Caltrans workers discovered a body Tuesday morning off Interstate Five near Kamm Avenue in Fresno County.
Now authorities in southern California tell action news another body was found by investigators along Highway 101 in Santa Barbara County.
Action news reporter Sontaya Rose is in the newsroom with more on the suspect in both murders.
Los Angeles police say the suspect is a relative of the victims. Fresno county coroners say it appears the 76 year old victim was murdered and within 24 hours dumped hundreds of miles away from the crime scene.
Caltrans workers made the first discovery Tuesday morning. A body cut into several pieces and dumped along Interstate Five and Kamm.
“The way it was dissected is a little unusual. It looked like it was done with some skill. It wasn’t just casually done. It was done with some precision,” said Dr. David Hadden, Fresno County Coroner.
That victim has been identified as 76 year old Getahun Reta.
Wednesday investigators with the Los Angeles police department went to Reta’s south LA apartment, where they found a crime scene and a man who didn’t want to talk to police.
“When they knocked on the front door, a suspect jumped out of a second floor window and started to run away but he was chased down and captured,” said Jason Lee, Los Angeles Police Dept.
33 year old Mulushewa Tebedge was arrested for murder after a short chase LA detectives say while interviewing him, they learned about another victim, Reta’s daughter. Her body was dumped in Santa Barbara County.
“He’s in custody that is the good news. But it’s unfortunate its thanksgiving weekend and we have to work on a heinous crime like this.”
Fresno county coroner David Hadden says in past cases, he’s seen bodies dismembered because it makes them easier and more discreet to move.
“If I had to guess this was an expediency to make it fit in the containers which in this case were suitcases. I suspect they wanted it to fit into the suitcases because they could transport the body easily,” said Hadden.
Investigators believe the suspect and victims all lived together in the same apartment.
The 33 year old suspect is in the Los Angeles county jail tonight on two counts of murder. His bail is one million dollars.
17 thoughts on “An Ethiopian in Los Angeles charged with capital murder”
Elias, what is this tragic act of murder teaching us? It is rather depressing. Please evaluate before you make it public.
How many of us are out there with mental anguish from our part and still not getting help? It is clear he was a deranged man before the killings. Very Sad!
there must be some thing wrong with this person, other wise u ca’t do like this
really bad
What a sad and gruesome affair. However, I did not read anywhere that Mulushewa has admitted to the crime. The reasons he fled the police could have been fear. I fear that the authorities have rushed to put the blame on the poor guy. I also feel that the method of the crime and the depositing of the body in a suitcase does not meet the physological background of Ethiopian culture. Let us pray that due process of law will prove him innocent until proven guilty.
There will come day that the Addis Ababa butcher will also claim a reason of insanity when he is brought before an international tribuan court for crimes against humanity!!! Meles Zenawi!!!! The butcher of Addis needs to be charged with capital crimes as well!!!
Sam Says :
Unless he killed them there is no reason for him to run.He
is a very sick person shame on him, this is not something
healthy to read about,I wish he will rotten in jail the rest
of his life.
Dear Menalbat : I guess you are making a big mistake the police did not said any thing they are still investigateing
the matter we will here some thing soon please don’t call
this sick a poor guy ok. he is a sick person..
The man obviously needs help. In fact there are thousands of people out there who need help before they get involved in such crimes or any other violent acts. I am really sorry for the victims although I don’t know what went down. But I really hope that justice will be served!!!!
It is very hard for me an Ethiopian can do such henious crime to his father and sister.it is beyond my immagination.i pray to God that this guy to be innocient of the crime he is accused.a terrouble story !!!!!
There is no doubt Mulushewa has committed the crime. The police came looking for him to investigate the death of his father, but apparently not only had he admitted the killing of his own father but also the killing of his older sister.
I knew the family well before they moved to America; they were a normal family in every way as far as I can tell, and there is no known history of violence on part of Mulushewa. Actually, I have spoken to Mulushewa on the phone a couple of times this year; I knew he was a little bit weird but not a psychopath killer.
My condolences go out to the victims and the victim’s family.
I am so deeply sadden by this crime. My condolence to all the families. The above articles are not facts, before we pass judgments. We need to gather all our facts from both side.
This kind of gruesome crime is common in north america.I Hear & read it all the time.But when i read this story an Ethiopian did it to his father & doughter,I got a pinch in my head & can’t believe my eyes.If he found guilty deserves the death penalty & get rid of him.I’m realy sadden by it.
I would like to extend my deepest sympathy and heart felt condolences to the surviving family members. May God give you the strength and the will to overcome this tragic and trying times.And may He who watches over all, and hears our prayer,grant you the blessing of good health and keep you in his care.
Oh God…..what a sad story!!!!!!!!. It is so hard to judge , we can’t name this guy poor or sick. God is the only one who knows the truth right now. Let us pray to God that he will help the investigators to find the real truth soon.
We realy need storng prayer, these days we start hearing unbelivable tragedies about our brothers and sisters.
GETA YITAREKEN
Dawit X
I read nowhere in the stories above that Mulushewa admitted to the murders; ofcourse you may have inside information which the readers are not privy to. From your message although you claimed you knew the family, I did not read anywhere that he was a medical student/doctor. If you re-read one of the articles above, this is what the County Coroner said and I quote “The way it was dissected is a little unusual. It looked like it was done with some skill. It wasn’t just casually done. It was done with some precision,” said Dr. David Hadden, Fresno County Coroner.”
What a senseless waste of lives. We all hear these stories from time to time, but are very surprised when it’s one of our own. However, this is the western world and people are exposed to certain things that they would not be back home and are unaware of how it has mentally affected them until something like this happens. More and more of our people are having mental issues, which have to be treated and not left alone or sneered at. I hope this makes all Ethiopians aware of the ever growing mental problems within our community and take better care of their friends and family.
I knew the father, and sister, and I just can not believe this. I keep seeing ther faces. My prayers and blessing are with them, and their family, and our close knit apartment complex. However, I can pretty much best believe they are looking down on us from heaven. I wish the brother well too.