VENTURA, Calif. — A man was arrested in the stabbing and killing of a man, his pregnant wife and their unborn baby before the couple’s two other children ran for help from their beachfront house in Southern California, a sheriff’s official said today.
Joshua Packer, 20, was taken into custody Sunday and booked on suspicion of three counts of murder and two counts of robbery, capping a nearly yearlong investigation into the crime that shocked their upscale waterfront community in Ventura County.
Brock and Davina Husted, both 42, were repeatedly stabbed in May by an intruder wearing a motorcycle helmet who slipped into their Faria Beach house through a sliding-glass door. Davina Husted was about five months pregnant.
Sheriff’s Capt. Ross Bonfiglio confirmed to the Ventura County Star that Packer is a suspect but would not release further details until a news conference later in the day.
Packer was being held in county jail on $500,000 bail.
Investigators previously said they believed the Husteds were targeted before the stabbings. No motive was released.
The couple’s two children were home at the time of the attack and were not hurt.
Their 9-year-old son saw a man confront his mother in the kitchen and ran to his 11-year-old sister, who was asleep, authorities said. The children then ran to a neighbor’s home and called 911.
The beachfront community is located along U.S. Highway 101 about 80 miles from Los Angeles.
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