Man Killed Wife, Son, 13, In Murder-Suicide In Redondo Beach

REDONDO BEACH, CA — A man described by friends as despondent over a back injury that left him in constant pain gunned down his wife and their 13- year-old son before turning the gun on himself inside the family's Redondo Beach condominium, authorities said Thursday.

Officers responded around 10:15 p.m. Wednesday to a report of shots fired inside a residence in the 700 block of Esplanade Avenue and found three bodies inside, according to Capt. Jon Naylor of the Redondo Beach Police Department.

The dead were identified as Ivana and Marc Waz, both 48, and their son Makani, coroner's Lt. Dave Smith said.

The woman and boy were listed as homicide victims; the man committed suicide, Smith said.
Neighbor Reggie Lucero told reporters the father, an environmental scientist, had suffered a back injury in a construction accident and was in constant pain.

"He was miserable," Lucero said. "He was a good friend. He would come into my house, and we would have a glass of wine and we'd talk. I'm just sorry, but I'm not surprised. There was no answer for him."

She said Marc Waz took pain pills, but "the doctors couldn't do anything for him."

Redondo Beach police Lt. Rick Kochheim said arriving officers peered inside the condo and "saw one person down and non-responsive. Officers made entry into the location, and then once inside of the location they discovered two additional people inside, deceased. The preliminary portion of the investigation has revealed that it appears one of the persons involved committed suicide after shooting the other two."

Ivana Waz, a UC Berkeley graduate, worked for nearly four years for Mattel as a product management specialist, according to her LinkedIn page. A friend told NBC4 that she came to the United States from Serbia at age 12 and she married her high school sweetheart, who also attended UC Berkeley.

The friend said Ivana Waz had been urging her husband to get help for his depression.

According to NBC4, Ivana Waz managed her son's Los Angeles Galaxy South Bay soccer team.

The league plans to hold a memorial service for Waz at 5:30 p.m. Friday at the Toyota Sports Complex, 555 Maple Ave., in Torrance, the station reported.

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PREVIOUS: THURSDAY, JULY 12, 1:18 p.m.

Three members of a family were found dead inside a Redondo Beach home in what police Thursday said was an apparent double murder and suicide.

Officers responded around 10:15 p.m. Wednesday to a report of shots fired inside the residence in the 700 block of Esplanade Avenue, according to Capt. Jon Naylor of the Redondo Beach Police Department.

Coroner's Assistant Chief Ed Winter said the dead were a man and a woman in their 40s and a male whose age was not given. Their names were not immediately released.

Neighbors reported the dead were a couple with a son about 10 years old.

Redondo Beach police Lt. Rick Kochheim told KTLA 5 that he could not confirm the ages, but said they were "a family ... two males and a female."

"When officers arrived on scene, they could see inside of the location, and then they saw one person down and non-responsive," Kochheim said. "Officers made entry into the location, and then once inside of the location they discovered two additional people inside, deceased. All three appeared to have suffered from gunshot wounds. The preliminary portion of the investigation has revealed that it appears one of the persons involved committed suicide after shooting the other two."

Anyone with information regarding the three deaths was urged to call police at (310) 937-6685.

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PREVIOUS: THURSDAY, JULY 12, 7:35 a.m.

Three people were found dead inside a Redondo Beach home Wednesday night in what may be a case of murder-suicide.

Detectives are still working to determine what happened and why the three people were killed. Officers responded to reports of gunfire in the 700 block of Esplanade at around 10:15 p.m. Wednesday. They arrived to find three people dead, according to Captain Jon Naylor of the Redondo Beach Police Department.

According to the the Redondo Beach Police Department, there is no ongoing threat to the community. Detectives believe the killer is among the dead.

The genders or identities of the victims were not immediately released.

Anyone with information regarding the three deaths is urged to call police at (310) 937-6685.

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City News Service contributed to this report. Photo: Shutterstock