A suspect has been arrested and charged in the brutal killing of 102-year old Youssef Mahboubian.
Adam Dimmerman, 47, was charged Monday with murder, attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.
Detective Steve Castro of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Valley Bureau homicide division told the Forward, “He flipped out,” and is going to be mentally evaluated.
Castro explained that the suspect was from Santa Barbara and had come to Los Angeles that day, though he declined to explain why he was in Los Angeles.
Reports say, he parked his car “quite a distance” from where the incidents occurred, and was walking his dog before encountering Mahboubian.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers were initially called to Mahboubian’s home in the 17700 block of Alonzo Place, north of the Encino reservoir, at about 12:50 p.m.
When officers arrived at the scene, Mahboubian was found dead in the garage. According to the coroner’s office, Mahboubian died of “multiple sharp force injuries.”
An hour earlier, police responded to reports of an assault with a deadly weapon where a man was found to have suffered lacerations to his left arm. That man had apparently followed Dimmerman from Mahboubian’s residence and called police.
Investigators said an axe and a knife were recovered when Dimmerman was arrested by police. Detectives said they believed Dimmerman was responsible for both attacks.
The incidents, Mahboubian’s murder and a subsequent assault, were, “totally random,” said Castro.
Dimmerman, who is being held on $2 million bail, was scheduled to be arraigned late Monday afternoon at the Van Nuys courthouse.
Mahboubian’s grandson, Jason Shakib, says his grandfather was dedicated to his family and his wife of 65 years. The couple lived in the quiet neighborhood for decades.
“He came to this country from Iran decades and decades ago, and they’ve been living peacefully on Alonzo Place for 30 years,” Skakib said. “This is heartbreaking.”
“I thought he fell. I had no idea. They told me he fell in the garage and my cousin came home and found him,” Shakib said. “I just thought he slipped and fell because he was an older man. I had no idea there was a guy with a machete running around killing people.”
Mahboubian has been an active member of the Jewish community but investigators are not calling the murder and assault a hate crime.
“There’s no reason for it. There’s no explanation,” said Peter Maranian, the victim’s neighbor. “You see a man that’s gone through a lot in his life and he’s gone through COVID as well, and now this happens to him. It’s really very sad.”
Sending condolences to the family as they mourn the loss of a great man.
Anyone with additional information is urged to call Detective Steve Castro at (818) 374-1925. During non-business hours, or on weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (1-877-527-3247). Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call the L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477) or go directly to www.lacrimestoppers.org.
