Bishop-slay arrest
Housekeep-hub suspect’s $$ feud eyed
The husband of slain Catholic Bishop David O’Connell’s housekeeper was arrested in his murder Monday — and the suspect claimed the clergyman owed him money, authorities said.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna (inset) alleged in a press conference that Carlos Medina shot dead the 69-year-old community pillar inside his Hacienda Heights home on Saturday.
“Detectives were told by the tipster they were concerned because Medina was acting strange, irrational and made comments about the bishop owing him money,” Luna revealed. Medina occasionally did house work for the slain bishop, Luna said.
Medina, 65, was arrested by authorities after initially refusing to leave his Torrance home early Monday, Luna said. A sheriff’s SWAT team with a heavily armored police vehicle surrounded the house.
Neighbors told The Post dozens of squad cars rushed the usually quiet block where Medina and his wife had lived for five years at around 4:15 a.m.
Neighbor Francisco Medina, who lives two houses down and is not related to the suspect, said the standoff lasted a few hours and he could hear cops shout: “Carlos, Come outside!”
The neighbor said he’d seen both the suspect and his wife walking the bishop’s dog. Carlos had also told Francisco his wife worked for the bishop for at least a decade.
‘A good guy’
“To me he was a good guy,” Francisco Medina said. “He told me he used to work for a popcorn factory a long time ago, but then he got hurt.”
Another neighbor, who asked to be identified only as Britney, told The Post the suspect had been especially chatty last week.
“It’s definitely a shock because I didn’t think this of him,” Britney said. “I would see him here all the time, working on his truck, organizing things and planting. He was always around, so I don’t think he worked.
Authorities cautioned that it’s not clear if the slay motive was tied to a dispute over money, and only a tip authorities have heard so far.
“I am not certain of any dispute,” Luna said at the press conference. “That’s something [which] came up from one of the witnesses . . . our investigation continues, which means interviewing multiple witnesses to . . . get a better picture.”
The bishop was pronounced dead inside the bedroom of his home with at least one gunshot wound to the upper body, Luna said. There were no signs of anyone forcing their way into his home, police have previously said.
O’Connell’s body was discovered after a deacon dialed 911 after going to the house to check on him because he was late to a meeting, Luna said.
The suspect’s wife was not working the day of the murder, and investigators have been talking to her and she is cooperating, he added.
A vehicle spotted in O’Connell’s driveway the day of the murder on surveillance footage is similar to the SUV that Medina had driven to O’Connell’s in the past, while two firearms and other evidence possibly linking Medina to the crime were collected following his arrest, Luna said.
The guns will be tested to see if either is the murder weapon.
O’Connell, who had been a priest for 45 years, was hailed as a “peacemaker” in the wake of his slaying. The tragic priest had worked in South Los Angeles for years and was heavily involved with gang intervention and helping newly arrived immigrants.
Pope Francis had named him one of several auxiliary bishops of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 2015.