AHS alum murder-suicide?

1974 AHS class photo, Dean Ron Albert

Update Tuesday, May 3: The body of a suspect in the murder last week of a 53-year former Arcadia High School graduate Dean Ron Albert was found dead Monday morning (May 2) in the Chantry Flat recreation area with a handgun nearby, according to Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department homicide investigators.

The body was identified Tuesday as that of 55-year-old Kevin Pochter, the victim’s lifelong friend who murdered his buddy on Thursday and then apparently killed himself Monday morning.

Albert, 53, was found shot to death Thursday evening near the Chantry Flat recreation area, according to the Sheriff’s department. He was a 1974 Arcadia High School graduate, according to ArcadiaApaches.com

Sheriff’s Special Enforcement Bureau Special Weapons Team deputies spent Sunday (May 1) searching for Pochter, an experienced hiker, in the San Gabriel Mountains and Angeles National Forest above Arcadia and Monrovia.

On Monday a hiker saw the body in the Chantry Flat area about 8:30 a.m. and thought it was someone sleeping until he remembered reading in the newspaper about the search for a murderer in that area. He then walked to the closest ranger station and reported his suspicions. Rangers contacted the sheriff’s command post, which dispatched deputies to investigate.

Sheriff’s Mounted Enforcement Detail deputies found a handgun near the body, which was about six miles from Mount Wilson, where the car of the victim of the murder was found abandoned. The distance between the two locations is a steep slope of rugged terrain, about 3000’ vertical feet lower than the where the car was found.

Murder suspect Kevin Pochter

The initial murder victim was found around 5:40 p.m. Thursday evening when Sheriff’s Homicide detectives responded to the Chantry Flat unincorporated area near Sierra Madre regarding a shooting death investigation. Investigators learned that a passerby discovered the victim lying on the side of Big Santa Anita Canyon Road, south of Chantry. Deputies from Temple Sheriff’s Station were notified and responded to the location. The victim, who was suffering from a gunshot wound to the upper body, was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

On Friday, homicide investigations sought the public’s help in locating the victim’s vehicle that was taken from the murder site. At approximately 11 a.m. Saturday, the victim’s car was located in the parking lot of the Mount Wilson Observatory, San Gabriel Mountains.

Deputies from Crescenta Valley, Temple, and San Dimas Sheriff’s Stations as well as officers from Arcadia, Sierra Madre, and Monrovia Police Departments spent the rest of the day searching for suspect Pochter.

On Sunday morning, team members from the Sheriff’s Special Enforcement Bureau and Emergency Services Details resumed a ground search for suspect Kevin Pochter.

— By Scott Hettrick