Standoff with man suspected of killing woman ends in arrest

SANTA CLARITA >> A man suspected of driving from Washington state to California in order to kill his estranged wife was taken into custody late Thursday night after an hours-long standoff with Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies, authorities said.

James Dorsey, 41, was believed to have a knife and deputies with guns drawn were watching his disabled Chevy Malibu on the edge of an aqueduct in the Neenach area of northern L. A. County. A crisis negotiation team was called in and Dorsey finally was arrested peacefully, according to a Sheriff ’ s Department statement.

The woman, whose name was not released, was stabbed around 5 a.m. in a house in the city of Santa Clarita.

The woman made a “dying declaration” in which she identified the suspect as her estranged husband, sheriff’s Lt. Barry Hall told reporters outside the residence.

Dorsey was believed to have driven from Washington state on Wednesday, authorities said.

“He was not welcome at the house ... he probably forced his way through the door at the back,” Hall said.

Three children in the house were not harmed.