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UPDATE: Santa Clarita Murder Victim ID’ed By Coroner’s Officials

A Santa Clarita woman who was fatally shot in the head Tuesday night in her Canyon Country home has been identified by officials with the county’s Coroner’s Office. 


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Bertha Anderson, 68, of Canyon Country, was killed by a single gunshot wound to the head, said Lt. Larry Dietz of the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office, on Friday.

Lance Holger Anderson, 60, of Canyon Country, is expected to be arraigned Friday, according to officials with the District Attorney’s Office.

The two reportedly lived together at the 26800 block of Claudette Street.

Neighbors reported hearing “two loud booms” the night before Bertha Anderson and Lance Anderson’s sister, Lisa Nave, were found dead Wednesday morning.

Anderson was apprehended by Los Angeles Police Department officials near the scene of Nave’s death at a convalescent home in North Hills.

A Derringer pistol, which is suspected to be involved in the crime, was found nearby, and Lance Anderson reportedly was arrested without incident.

Nave was killed Wednesday morning, and Bertha Anderson’s body was discovered Wednesday, after family members requested a “check the welfare” call at the Canyon Country condominium she shared with Lance Anderson.

A Los Angeles Police Department captain intially referred to the incident as a “mercy killing,” because the victim was not chosen at random, and no other patients inside the convalescent home were injured, according to an LA Times report.

Both Bertha Anderson and Nave were reportedly suffering from serious illness at the time of their deaths.

Detective Ron Duval is handling the investigation for the Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau. He could not be reached for comment Friday morning.

The case is also being investigated by Los Angeles Angeles Police Department detectives because one of the crimes occurred in their jurisdiction.

Deputy District Attorney Carolyn McNary said Lance Anderson  is expected to be arraigned Friday in Dept. S of Los Angeles County Superior Court, San Fernando Branch.  

He is charged with two counts of murder with the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders and a special allegation of intentional discharge of a firearm with great bodily injury.

The case remains under investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the Los Angeles Police Department, according to a District Attorney’s Office statement. 

Deputy District Attorney Julie Kramer is assigned to the case.  If convicted as charged, Anderson faces the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.  

The defendant is being held without bail.


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UPDATE: Santa Clarita Murder Victim ID’ed By Coroner’s Officials

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About Perry Smith

Perry Smith is a print and broadcast journalist who has won several awards for his focused, hyperlocal community coverage in several different regions of the country. In addition to five years of experience covering the Santa Clarita Valley, Smith, a San Fernando Valley native, has worked in newspapers and news websites in Los Angeles, the Northwest, the Central Valley and the South, before coming to KHTS in 2012. To contact Smith, email him at Perry@hometownstation.com.