Ronald Gilbert Murder: Stanwood Elkus, accused gunman in Calif. urologist's shooting, had prostate problems, neighbors say

(CBS/AP) NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. - A retired barber expected to appear in court Wednesday on accusations that he fatally shot a California urologist in a medical exam room was plagued by prostrate troubles, neighbors said.

Stanwood Elkus, 75, is accused of shooting 52-year-old Ronald Gilbert on Monday afternoon at the medical office near Hoag Hospital. Neighbors said Elkus was angry about his incontinence following a recent surgery. It is unclear whether Gilbert was the physician who treated Elkus for prostate problems.

Elkus was jailed on $1 million bail. The urologist appeared to be the only target of the attack, police spokeswoman Kathy Lowe said.

Neighbors said Elkus was plagued by prostate troubles and was upset by a surgery that left him running to the bathroom constantly, sometimes in mid-conversation.

"One day we were talking about other things outside and he says, `Oh hold it right there!' and he was rushing to his house and when he came back, he said, `I have a problem with my prostate,"' said Miguel Soto, who lives across the street.

"He said, `I had surgery and now I am worse than before the surgery."'

Soto said he did not know if Gilbert was Elkus' doctor, adding that his neighbor never mentioned his doctor's name.

A few weeks ago, Elkus said he would be away from home because he was checking into a hospital again, Soto said. But when Soto saw Elkus last week, he didn't mention his health.

Another neighbor, James Lord, said Elkus mentioned Sunday that "he wasn't going to be around much longer."

"I told him, `No Stan, you're gonna outlive me,"' Lord said.

Detectives recovered a handgun at the scene of the shooting and found additional evidence at Elkus' home in Lake Elsinore, but police declined to provide details.

Gilbert worked in general urology, sexual dysfunction and related surgical techniques, including vasectomies, bladder and prostate cancer, according to his biography on the website of the Orange Coast Urology Group, which he joined in 1993.

He decided to become a doctor mainly because his late father was a doctor, the biography said, adding that Gilbert had been a stockbroker and a singer in a rock band. He had worked for 20 years at Hoag Hospital and was its former urology chief.

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