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Victor Maccharoli- Corey John Lyons faces charges of homicide in connection with the shooting deaths of Daniel Patrick Lyons, 55, and Barbara Lorene Scharton, 48, who were found dead in their recently rebuilt home at 621 Aurora Ave., authorities said.
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Police make arrest in double homicide
Santa Barbara police arrested a 50-year-old local man on suspicion of shooting and killing his brother and sister-in-law at their vacation home on the Mesa early this morning.
Corey John Lyons faces charges of homicide in connection with the shooting deaths of Daniel Patrick Lyons, 55, and Barbara Lorene Scharton, 48, who were found dead in their recently rebuilt home at 621 Aurora Ave., authorities said.
Although police officials said they are still investigating the motive for the shooting, Daniel Lyons had filed a civil lawsuit against his brother in October 2008, according to court records.
Officers responded to reports of shots fired in the quiet Mesa neighborhood at approximately 1:28 a.m. and learned en route that five to six shots had been heard by neighbors along with the sound of breaking glass, Sgt. Lorenzo Duarte said.
Upon arrival, officers noticed a broken window on the top floor of the home. After obtaining the cell phone numbers of the residents, police made several unsuccessful calls before bringing in the SWAT team.
Officers forced entry into the home at approximately 6:20 a.m. and discovered the two victims dead from gunshot wounds.
“It was a very gruesome scene,” Sgt. Mike McGrew said.
The victims were discovered in two separate areas of the home, he said, one upstairs and one downstairs.
Detectives tracked down Corey Lyons near his home at approximately 9 a.m. and brought him in for questioning, Duarte said. Their investigation led them to arrest the 50-year-old on suspicion of homicide.
“It was quick work done by the detectives,” Duarte said.
He declined to release any information about the type of gun used in the shooting, but did note that authorities had yet to recover a weapon.
He also deflected questions about any possible motives. Court officials confirmed that Daniel Lyons had filed a civil case against his brother last year alleging a variety of misdeeds, including fraud and misrepresentation.
The lawsuit alleged that Corey Lyons had been extorting money after being contracted to rebuild the couple’s home on the Mesa through his construction company, according to reports by the Santa Barbara Independent.
The lawsuit had been set for trial confirmation in August, according to court records. Scharton is listed as the attorney for her husband and apparently planned to represent him in court, officials said.
Daniel Lyons and Scharton both practiced law — Lyons as a senior partner with the Fresno-based law firm of McCormick Barstow and Scharton as a former prosecutor with the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office.
“You would probably not find a harder worker out there,” Ronald Ballecer, marketing director for McCormick Barstow, said of Lyons. “He spent a lot of time in the office.”
Attempts to contact officials at the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office were not successful, but Ballecer said Scharton had been described to him as a tenacious and well-respected litigator.
“Dan and his wife enjoyed life to the fullest,” he said. “That’s probably the reason they built their home in Santa Barbara. … I know that he loved his wife very, very much.”
Ballecer said they maintained their primary home in Fresno, even though Lyons managed the law firm’s Santa Barbara office at 27 W. Anapamu St., which handles cases from San Luis Obispo to Los Angeles counties.
Lyons joined the law firm in 1980, the same year he earned a law degree from UC Hastings College of the Law and passed the bar examination. He also earned a degree in business administration from CSU Chico, according to the law firm’s Web site.
“We are devastated at the loss of Dan and Barbara,” according to a statement released by McCormick Barstow. “To their families, we extend our thoughts and support at this very difficult time.”
The couple purchased the home at 621 Aurora Ave. in 2004 and lived there part-time, several neighbors said. They had caused a bit of a stir when they rebuilt the home, one neighbor said, pointing out how the austere, modern look of the muted-gray structure stands out in the neighborhood of mainly one-story traditional houses.
Forensic investigators could be seen working throughout the morning and into the early afternoon, their forms barely visible through the shattered window leading to a balcony on the top floor.
A curtain in the window bore signs of violence, with an apparent gunshot hole and a small rip visible as it flapped in the breeze.
Comment on this article
Huh? : 5/4/2009
"Several calls were made to the residents with no answer." I guess knocking on the door would have been police brutality or racial profiling or illegal search a violation of their rights.
Realist
Feeling Lucky? : 5/4/2009
Would YOU go to the door after gunshots were heard coming from the house? Kind of risky.
AD, SB
Who?? : 5/4/2009
Anybody know who lives at 621 Aurora?
Curious
Barbara Scharton : 5/4/2009
Barbara Scharton 621 Aurora Ave Santa Barbara, CA 93109-1601
B & E? : 5/4/2009
Sounds like a robbery gone awry. Very scary, since up here on the Mesa we don't see much of this sort of thing....
MesaMan
Could be anything murder suicide prrehaps? : 5/4/2009
I wonder if the police will solve it??? Or just add it to the talley of other murders we've had this year..
Beaver Cleaver
Murder : 5/4/2009
I live on the other side of Cliff Dr and to the west. I went there this morning to only find the police have cordoned the block. Neighbors said they were both attorneys and the rumors of the neighborhood are that the husband's brother did the shooting.
Binnsb4tyrs
Rumors : 5/4/2009
The victims were attorneys. She was a prosecutor and he was a civil attorney. If the neighbors reported the shots fired and glass breaking, hopefully one of those neighbors saw the shooter leave the house. Where did the rumors regarding the brother come from?
Concerned
Arrest? : 5/4/2009
The rumors are now that the male victim's brother has already been arrested.
Lookie Lou
Who! : 5/4/2009
http://www.mccormickbarstow.com/showbio.aspx?Show=53
Curious
Well of course anyone to do with the LAW.. : 5/4/2009
And courts they will solve quickly, but if your homeless, or poor they don't consider that murder...I've heard of alot of people getting screwed by the courts here and sooner or later you put too much pressure on someone they snap and this is what happens...It's too bad we live in a society where even those sworn to protect and serve will screw ya..
Mike Hunt
: 5/4/2009
I personally know the man they have arrested and I can't believe he would do such a thing, it shows that you really never know somebody. I would have said he couldn't hurt a fly before this. Very mild mannered man
: 5/4/2009
Motive?
swat team!! : 5/4/2009
call in the swat team.... because the police are too busy dealing with the homeless and DUI funded programs, no time to catch murdereres and bank robbers.
bobkah
Swat : 5/4/2009
I live a couple of houses down. The victims who got shot lived in that house. Go to the independent website. They have good coverage. My question is: we heard the SWAT team enter the house between 6:00 and 6:30am. If this originally happed at 1:30am, why did it take so long for the SWAT team to go into the house? But, all in all I was very impressed with the cops at the scene.
wu
: 5/4/2009
crap iv seen him before he did work on my freinds house and went to my church
: 5/4/2009
Wow! It took officers 5 hours from the time they got the call until they entered the house? Don't victims deserve a chance of being found in case they're still alive????????? Sounds like the police waited until daylight.
Know : 5/4/2009
I know the neighbors directly to the right of dan and barbara, the ones who called the cops first and the cops had to make sure it was safe and even SWAT team appropriate. No matter how fast the cops had gone into the house the man was gone, must have bolted right after.
sb friend
Victims unreached for 5+ hours. : 5/5/2009
Yeah, but if people have been shot there is a chance they are still alive, and shooting victims should have been reached as soon as possible because their lives may have depended on it. Every situation is different, but if it's a violent crime it seems the victim should be reached as soon as possible. It's not like this situation on the mesa was a standoff with a gun-toting individual threatening the police. It was a silent house at night.
: 5/5/2009
Whether a shooting victim (or victims) is (are) alive after five or six shots is pure speculation. Police aren't going to throw caution to the wind and enter a home they haven't cleared first. I don't believe it was five hours before they entered the house. Either way, you don't take chances like that and risk more lives.
: 5/5/2009
NUTTY!!!
: 5/5/2009
I personally know Corey also and this is completely out of character for him. Not your run of the mill "whacko". Something really intense must have happened to cause him to react like this. Suspend judgment.
Will now that the hotsh*t P.D. Has solved this heinous crime.. : 5/5/2009
tHEY CAN GO BACK TO SOME REAL CRIME FIGHTING BROWN NOSING THE MAYOR AND WRITING THE HOMELESS TICKETS...I'm just gonna sit here and have a beer now that I'm a ghost have fun giving me a ticket...
Ross Stiles..
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