A 33-year-old man accused of killing his mother, his father and the family dog and then setting fire to their Diamond Bar home was charged on Wednesday with two counts of murder, one court of arson and a count of cruelty to an animal.
Ryan Venti is scheduled to appear in Pomona Superior Court later Wednesday.
Because the case is a special-circumstance one, Venti faces the death penalty or life in prison without parole.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has not yet decided if it will seek the death penalty, spokesman Ricardo Santiago said.
In the early hours of Friday, Nov. 2., fire broke out in the Venti home in the 3600 block of Crooked Creek Drive. Firefighters extinguished the blaze and discovered the bodies of John Venti, 74, Linda Venti, 68, and their pet dog in a downstairs bedroom of the two-story house.
They didn’t find Ryan Venti, who lived there with his parents.
Ryan Venti was arrested Monday, Nov. 5, when he returned to the family home. A resident on Crooked Creek saw him, talked to him and called authorities.
“He admitted responsibility for the murders,” sheriff’s Lt. John Corina said.
Corina didn’t reveal any possible motive behind the slayings.
In one of the rooms, he did say, detectives found what they believe is the weapon used to kill the victims. Corina declined to reveal the type of weapon.
Corina said that after Ryan Venti tried to burn the house down, he hid in the hills near Diamond Bar and the 57 Freeway. The lieutenant said he believes Ryan Venti returned to the family home because he had nowhere else to go.
“All he knows is home and those hills,” Corina said.
Ryan Venti remained in custody at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles.
Source: Orange County Register
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