A cluster of murder-suicides involving couples in and around Santa Monica has unsettled the affluent California beach community, with three couples found dead at their homes since February and a sharp rise in similar cases across Los Angeles County.
Two of the Santa Monica-area incidents occurred less than three weeks apart in September and October. A further case in nearby Venice involved Jeremy Ferguson, a nonprofit executive closely associated with the city.
There were no reported murder-suicides in Santa Monica between 2020 and 2025. Across Los Angeles and Los Angeles County, at least ten cases have been ruled or are being investigated as murder-suicides this year, compared with two last year.
Mental health specialists said the deaths may reflect a combination of domestic abuse, financial pressure, relationship breakdown and reluctance among some affluent residents to seek help.
Dr John De La Torre, a forensic psychologist, said: “We can see Santa Monica probably being one of those places where economic strains are guiding the violent acts.”
He added: “Just because it looks like you have a lot of money, it doesn’t mean that you actually do. And times right now, especially in the economy, are very difficult for everyone, including those who appear as though they have money.”
The deaths linked to Santa Monica
Ferguson, 53, and his wife, Mandy Zelinka, 49, were found dead at their $1.5 million home on Superba Avenue in Venice on April 21.
Ferguson had been director of operations at Downtown Santa Monica, Inc, a nonprofit focused on improving business, community life and safety in the city centre. Before moving to California, he served as mayor of Milwaukie, Oregon, from 2009 to 2015.
Zelinka was a hairstylist, entrepreneur, writer and photographer. The couple were regularly seen working and volunteering together, and their deaths shocked people who knew them.
According to a report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office, Ferguson sent a friend an email that morning containing their door code and instructions to enter the property.
Police found the couple dead on their bed, with gunshot wounds to their heads. A .22-calibre rifle and shell casings were also recovered.
Toxicology tests found no drugs or alcohol in either body. Officials determined that Ferguson shot Zelinka before turning the weapon on himself. His son told police that Ferguson had experienced mental health issues and had expressed suicidal thoughts over several years.
In Zelinka’s obituary, her family asked mourners to donate to NAYA, a nonprofit working to “end silence around issues of domestic and sexual violence”.
Another case involved Gul Erdogan, 45, and her husband, Aytac Camdeviren, 43, who lived in a multimillion-dollar home in Westwood, about five miles from Santa Monica.
Erdogan, an entrepreneur who founded electronics accessories company Mega West Enterprises, was eight-and-a-half months pregnant when she and Camdeviren celebrated with relatives and friends at a baby shower, neighbours said.
Six days later, police said, Camdeviren shot Erdogan in the head before turning the gun on himself. The investigation remains ongoing.
Neighbours described the couple as happy and said they were often seen walking hand-in-hand. Erdogan’s home was later listed for rent at $15,995 a month.
On September 26, Hendrik Rabitzsch, 48, shot his wife Nicole, 47, and then himself at their apartment on Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica, police said.
The couple had appeared to lead an active life and were frequently seen travelling, visiting the beach and taking cruises. Nicole Rabitzsch had worked for almost 13 years at an Audi dealership in downtown Los Angeles and had previously worked for Audi in Germany.
Police said there had been no previous domestic violence calls involving the couple. A firearm was recovered and the investigation is continuing.
Experts warn of domestic abuse and mental health pressures
Dr Carole Lieberman, a forensic psychiatrist in neighbouring Beverly Hills, said Santa Monica had faced rising housing costs, widespread homelessness and the closure of more businesses in recent years.
“It has really upset the population who poured their life savings into buying homes in these areas that are now no longer safe, causing a lot of frustration,” she said.
Lieberman said domestic violence should be considered a possible precursor to a murder-suicide.
“Domestic violence, which can rise to murder, has become more common. People are taking out the frustrations they have within themselves onto their loved ones,” she said.
Dr Joe Scroppo, a forensic psychologist and attorney in New York, said financial burdens could produce a sense of hopelessness among people who felt responsible for supporting or caring for someone else.
“The demands to take care of someone can be very, very stressful, and that is sometimes seen as a way out of that situation,” he said.
Dr De La Torre said pressure to maintain an affluent image could also become a factor.
“Sometimes there’s a need to keep up with the Joneses,” he said. “If they’re no longer able to keep up that facade, to keep up that appearance, then that will tip them over the edge into wanting to engage in a violent act.”
Scroppo said the decisive factor in many murder-suicides was “a loss of hope”, particularly after a relationship ended or one partner wanted to leave.
He said some perpetrators “simply cannot tolerate the idea of losing a relationship with someone that they feel they must have in their lives”.
He also suggested that mental illness could be more difficult to acknowledge in communities populated by “well-to-do highfliers” concerned with maintaining appearances.
“The unwillingness to seek out care because of the stigma of mental health intervention is higher in places where mental illness is really stigmatized,” he said. “Things that stress interpersonal relationships, those kinds of mental stressors would be the most powerful factors.”
Firearms can turn a single confrontation into a fatal incident, experts said. A Violence Policy Center study found that more than 1,000 people died in murder-suicides in the United States in 2025, with guns used in 85 per cent of cases.
The study recorded 237 incidents in the first half of that year, or about nine each week. Intimate partners were involved in around 65 per cent of cases, while 90 per cent took place in the home.
Kristen Rand, the organisation’s director of government affairs, said: “The proliferation of guns only exacerbates the problem, escalating domestic abuse into domestic homicides.”
Santa Monica Police Lieutenant Lewis Gilmour said supporting people experiencing mental health crises remained a priority for the department and the city.
“These cases represent heartbreaking losses for the families and loved ones affected,” he said.
He added: “Each investigation involves its own circumstances, and we would not want to speculate about broader causes or the mental health of the suspects/victims. Our focus remains on the individual investigations and those affected.”
