Sketch released of suspect in elderly Calif. couple's murder

LA VERNE, Calif. - Authorities have released a sketch of a man wanted in connection with the double-murder of an elderly couple in their Verne, Calif. mansion last month, reports CBS Los Angeles.

Armie Isom, 89, and his 74-year-old wife Shirley were found beaten and stabbed Dec. 26 in the front entrance of their hilltop estate, which sits on a property that spans more than 70 acres, according to the station.

Shirley Isom was pronounced dead at the scene while Armie Isom was taken to a local hospital in critical condition, where he later died.

Police describe the suspect in the killings as a white or Hispanic male in his 30s. They say he was seen walking in the area around the time the murder is believed to have taken place wearing a hooded jacket and a backpack.

"Investigators have been able to establish the suspect's route of travel through video and eyewitness accounts," Lt. Dave Coleman of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said. "We've also confirmed his sighting at the Isoms' gate in and around the time of, what we believe, the time of the murders."

Authorities have not commented on a motive.

Don Minner, a neighbor of the Isoms, told CBS Los Angeles that a few days before the couple was killed, Armie Isom had expressed concern about his safety over a break-in that happened on his property and about some lawsuits he was facing.

"I asked him. I said, 'Are you keeping your doors locked?' And he said, 'I keep my doors locked all the time,'" Joanne Minner, another neighbor, said.

But detectives say the doors weren't locked the day after Christmas when the crime occurred, reports the station.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department at (323) 890-5500.