Simone WilsonThe owner of Beer & Wine Market in Hawaiian Gardens was found bound and gagged in his own liquor-store freezer yesterday, reports CBS2. And according to the Los Angeles Times, this isn't the first time an owner has turned up dead.
A customer reportedly called the L.A. County Sheriff after wandering into the store Monday afternoon and finding no one there. The market was open, but all its lights were turned off.
When investigators showed up around 4:45 p.m., they say they “searched the business and discovered the victim at the rear of the location.” Various news outlets have since confirmed that the corpse was stuffed in the back-room freezer.
Needless to say, sheriff's homicide detectives are considering this a “suspicious death.”
The neighborhood liquor store is located in a palm-lined strip mall along Carson Street, right up against a cluster of apartments:
Employees who work in the same mall as Beer & Wine Market described the owner to CBS2 as an antisocial, 40-something Korean man “who may have had a gambling problem.”
But here's the eeriest part, from the Times:
Residents said the liquor store was open sporadically and that the previous owner had been killed inside 10 years ago.
The L.A. County Coroner's Office says it is still waiting for next-of-kin to be notified before revealing the victim's identity.
[@simone_electra / swilson@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]
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