80-year-old murder suspect arrested

An 80-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder in the death of an elderly woman Saturday morning at a home in a suburban cul-de-sac in east Los Gatos, a police spokesman said Tuesday.

Richard Leonard Stefanik was booked into custody and remains in critical condition from a self-inflicted injury, Los Gatos-Monte Sereno police Sgt. JR Langer said.

Langer declined to comment on the manner of the woman’s death and Stefanik’s injuries and did not release the name of the victim.

At 10:27 a.m. Saturday, Los Gatos police received a call about a suspicious death in a house in the 100 block of Dover Court, about two blocks north of Blossom Hill Road and a quarter-mile south of Los Gatos-Almaden Road, police said.

Inside the residence, officers found the dead body of the elderly woman and Stefanik, who had a serious self-inflicted injury and was transported to a hospital.

No one else was hurt at the home and police are not releasing additional information about the case to allow “the family to have some time to get over the incident,” Langer said.

A neighbor of Stefanik’s, Henry Rodgin, said that he was not at home when the incident happened but heard it had involved gunshots. Rodgin said Richard Stefanik lived at the home with his wife Lois.

Rodgin said he and the Stefaniks had been neighbors there for the past 30 years but he did not know them well:

“I never knew about any disputes or arguments. … They kept to themselves. … The kids and grandkids were always over at the house.”

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