YOKNAPATAWPHA COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT

 

Investigating Officer(s): Det. S. Murphy, Det. T. Armstrong

Case No: 000487-16A-2000

Case Description: Devlin Beauchamp Homicide

Detective David Garcia of the Glendale (CA) Police Department, Homicide Division, forwarded this police report on the discovery of Ivan Riesling's body in 1992.

GLENDALE POLICE DEPARTMENT

Incident report:

Investigating Officer: Detective David Garcia

Incident Reported: 5/9/92, 10:20 a.m.

 

Incident Address: 123 Chevy Chase Drive, Glendale, CA

Victim's Name: Ivan Riesling

Victim's Age: 29

Victim's Address: same as Incident Address

 

Suspects: None at this time

Description of Incident:

At approximately 10:20 a.m., 911 operators received a call from one Jaclyn Severance who reported an apparent attempted burglary, and expressed concern that the occupants of the house may have been injured. A squad car in the area was dispatched to secure the scene and I arrived later, at approximately 10:35. The responding squad car had begun an initial interview with Severance, the witness who initially reported the crime. She claimed to be the victim's secretary and stated that she had not entered the house or disturbed anything. She said she called the police as soon as she saw the mess at the back door.

The back door was standing completely open. A panel of glass in the back door of the ranch-style home had been broken, apparently so the intruder could gain entry to the house by reaching in and unlocking the door. Glass from the pane was on the kitchen floor under the door and showed signs of being stepped on, presumably as the intruder stepped into the kitchen. Traces of glass were found on the other side of the kitchen and into the carpet in the den, suggesting that the intruder did track through the house.

The victim was lying face down in the middle of the den. A couch on the right side of the room was turned over and a coffee table was broken. In general, the den was very disrupted and disturbed. The victim's head was approximately 32 inches from a stone fireplace. Both of his arms were crumpled under his body. His head and shoulder area appeared to be badly beaten with a blunt object. There were several indentions on the victim's skull, blood was caked in his hair and dried on his face. The right side of his face was facing up and his eye was closed and swollen. His shoulders and back area were badly bruised. The victim was only wearing a pair of shorts.

Initial indications are that the victim struggled with the intruder and suffered most of the physical damage on his shoulders, head, and back. A poker from the fireplace set was found in the far left hand corner of the den, covered in what appears to be dried blood. This item was cataloged as evidence and turned over to forensics for examination.

The carpet area around the victim's head was covered in dried blood. Forensics are still performing their analysis but the dried appearance of the blood would seem to indicate that the victim had been killed at least a day prior to the secretary's discovery.

REPORT FILED: 5/9/92, 4:30 p.m.

//David Garcia
Detective