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Dad, pregnant mom killed, children in home unhurt

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-05-22 10:56

VENTURA, Calif. – An intruder dressed in black and wearing a motorcycle helmet barged into a Southern California beach home and stabbed a pregnant woman and her husband to death as their two children were in other rooms, authorities said Thursday.

This image provided by Silva and Silva Photography shows Brock and Davina Husted, who were both stabbed to death Tuesday in their beach front home in Ventura, Calif., according to reports Thursday May 21, 2009. [Agencies]

The two children were not injured in the attack late Tuesday. The 9-year-old boy ran to another part of the house after he first saw the intruder, and later found his parents' bodies. His 11-year-old sister was asleep in another room, authorities said.

Davina Husted, 42, was in the kitchen, the father, Brock Husted, 42, was in a bedroom and the boy was watching television when the intruder entered the expensive house in unincorporated Faria Beach through a sliding-glass door, sheriff's Capt. Ross Bonfiglio said.

The parents' bodies were found in the back of the one-story Ventura County home, he said. Sheriff's Capt. Bruce Norris said Davina Husted was four to five months pregnant. No arrests have been made.

"There's no answers as to why this happened," said Scott Husted, Brock's brother. "It's a horrible situation and there's a killer out there that killed a man and his wife — his pregnant wife — with two small children in the home."

Investigators believe the killer was not known to the family, Bonfiglio said. A beach camping area is located just west of the home.

Authorities believe the killer saw Davina Husted first and attacked her. They initially thought the boy saw the attack, but sheriff's Sgt. Dave Murray later said the child ran into another room and didn't witness the killings, but did find the bodies.

The boy and his older sister then ran out of the house and told a neighbor about the attack, Murray said.

Family friend Robyn Asdel said Brock Husted was a family man, while his wife was involved in her children's school activities and was excited about the coming birth of their baby.

"She was a great role model to her children and all of our kids," Asdel said. "They will both be missed."

The well-manicured beach-front home sits along a narrow stretch of US Highway 101 about 80 miles northwest of Los Angeles.