Officer’s Suspected Killer Died From Two Shots, Autopsy Finds

Apparently contradicting information released earlier, the coroner’s office said Tuesday that a man suspected of murdering a Los Angeles police officer died from both a police rifle shot and a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

On Sunday, Chief Willie L. Williams had told reporters that a police rifle shot fatally wounded Manuel Vargas Perez, 26, after a three-hour standoff that day at a Hollywood motel.

Then, on Monday, police said that an autopsy performed on Perez--the suspected killer of officer Charles D. Heim--showed that Perez died from a shot fired from his own .380-caliber semiautomatic handgun moments after police shot him in the neck.

Finally, on Tuesday, a coroner’s spokesman said the autopsy concluded that Perez died from both wounds. The death is being ruled a homicide.

“It is the opinion of the deputy medical examiner that both wounds caused the death of Mr. Perez,” coroner’s spokesman Scott Carrier said. He said that information was passed to two police detectives who witnessed the autopsy on Monday.

Police spokesman Capt. Bruce Hagerty acknowledged Tuesday that the detectives “should have probably communicated that (information) better,” but Hagerty added that the issue “is really a matter of semantics, because you could say the self-inflicted gunshot wound advanced the inevitable.”

He said the case will be turned over to the district attorney’s office as a justifiable homicide.

Detectives said Tuesday that they were still investigating the circumstances surrounding Heim’s killing Friday night, when he and his partner, Felix F. Pena, were met by a barrage of bullets as they tried to enter Perez’ room at another Hollywood motel after receiving a tip about drug dealing there. Perez reportedly jumped out a window and fled.

Heim died a few hours later at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Pena, wounded in his right hand, was treated and released the next day.