A 34-year-old man who moved from Colorado to live with his grandparents in Glendale was charged Tuesday with two counts of capital murder in their deaths.
Nathaniel Wayne Scheiern allegedly used an ax when killing Verna Scheiern, 82, and William Scheiern, 77, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Authorities had not previously described how the couple died.
Police found the elderly couple’s decomposing bodies in their Alexander Street home on June 28 after being called to perform a welfare check.
They were killed on June 24 or June 25, according to the DA’s office.
Nathaniel Scheiern was arrested July 2, several days after being named a person of interest in the killings. He was hospitalized in Valencia after being involved in a June 25 single-vehicle crash that police believe occurred after his grandparents’ deaths, according to the Glendale Police Department, which was continuing its investigation.
Detectives had waited several days to interview him while he recovered from his injuries.
He was expected to be arraigned Tuesday in the Pasadena branch of the Los Angeles County Superior Court.
The prosecutor planned to ask that he be held without bail. On Monday, Scheiern was moved to the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown L.A., according to county inmate records.
A friend of the family told KTLA last week the couple took in their “troubled” grandson from Colorado about a year ago earlier.
Neighbors reported hearing loud arguments over money coming from the couple’s home.
