Photograph by Jeff Kearns

Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Captain Duino Giordano talks to CHP officers at the intersection of Summit Road and Mountain Charlie Road at about 5:30 p.m. Monday. Law enforcement agencies were searching for the suspect in a double homicide.

Cops close in on suspect at the Summit

By Jason Baker

The hunt for an ex-convict and self-styled survivalist who allegedly stabbed to death his estranged wife and her male friend in a Los Gatos home May 16 led local police and other law enforcement agencies to the Santa Cruz Mountains Monday afternoon.

Police were searching for Larry Roman Lavell, 41, the primary suspect in the weekend slaying of Suzanne Snyder, 35, of San Jose and Howard Beiderman, 36, of Los Gatos. Los Gatos-Monte Sereno police found Snyder and Beiderman suffering from multiple stab wounds at Beiderman's hillside home on Hicks Road shortly before 2 p.m. Sunday. The victims had been dating for only a week or less, police said.

---

Update: Suspect Larry Lavell surrenders, is turned over to Los Gatos-Monte Sereno police.

---

Police reports show dispatchers received a frantic 911 call at 1:34 p.m. Sunday from a woman at a hillside house on Hicks Road, about 100 yards from Los Gatos Christian Church. The woman told police her "ex-boyfriend" was violent and refused to leave the house. Dispatchers reportedly heard the victim pleading with her assailant while they hurriedly routed officers to the scene. The phone line went dead minutes later, police said.

Later in the day, witnesses reported seeing Lavell near a pay phone in the area of Redwood Estates after allegedly abandoning his pickup truck Sunday.

McCarty said Lavell is believed to have connections in the Watsonville, Scotts Valley and Felton areas. He also is believed to have affiliations with white supremacist groups in the area. Police also believe he may have access to assault weapons and a bulletproof vest.

At approximately 2 p.m. Monday, the Santa Clara County sheriff's department received a call--possibly through the CHP 911 system--from a motorist reporting on a suspicious person after giving a ride to a hitchhiker.

Deputy Dalia Henriques responded eight minutes later.

She was flagged down by the motorist who made the call, who said the hitchhiker identified himself as a survivalist living in the area, according to Pugh.

The driver could not make a positive identification from the mug shot of the suspect; the motorist told the deputy the hitchhiker was at the pay phone on Summit Road and Mountain Charlie Road. The deputy found the man at the pay phone and called to him asking for identification.

Pugh said the man said, "I'm the man you're looking for; I'm Larry Lavell." Henriques held the suspect down and waited for backup at 2:15 p.m., but the suspect escaped, and she did not pursue him out of the immediate area, but waited instead for backup.

Police then set up a perimeter bounded by Highway 17, Mountain Charlie Road and Old Santa Cruz Highway. By 5 p.m., some 50 officers were on the scene from the CHP, Department of Justice, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties sheriffs, Santa Cruz sheriff search and rescue, various K-9 units, a CHP helicopter and CHP plane. The LG-MSPD is the lead agency.

Lavell, a registered high-risk sex offender with a history of violence, had been released just a month ago from San Quentin prison. According to Tam, Lavell lived with his father-in-law, whom he phoned shortly after the stabbing and said he had done something terrible. Lavell has previous convictions for felony domestic violence, assault with a deadly weapon, weapons possessions and resisting arrest, said Tam.






Officers responding to the victim's 911 call on Sunday entered the one-story ranch-style home at 1:42 p.m. and found Snyder and Beiderman had each been stabbed multiple times. Police summoned paramedics to the scene, where they pronounced Beiderman dead. Emergency staff transported Snyder to Valley Medical Center, where she later died, officials said.

Snyder reportedly married Lavell four years ago. She is believed to have five children: a 16-year-old girl from another marriage; two boys, 12 and 10, and a 5-year-old girl believed to be Lavell's children and a 1-year-old boy from another relationship. Police could not disclose the whereabouts or condition of the children.

Later Sunday, a CHP officer found a camouflaged Dodge pickup belonging to Lavell in the Redwood Estates area.

Witnesses and police described Lavell as a white man, 5 feet 8 inches tall, 206 pounds, with light-colored close-cropped hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing a military-green tank top and and cut-off camouflage pants. He has sleeved tattoos, including "666" along his right forearm and various white supremacy symbols.

Los Gatos police have urged everyone in the area to exercise extreme caution. They ask anyone seeing a person matching Lavell's description to call 911 immediately.

Anyone with information on Lavell's whereabouts is asked to call 354-8600. Lavell has also been known to use the names Rollins, Barett and Butler.

---

Jeff Kearns and Cecily Barnes contributed to this story.

---

Paul Curtis named as new community development director

National Turn Off Your TV Television Week

Photo: Van Meter students plant a tree for Arbor Day

Photo: Theatre in the Mountains presents 'Gypsy'

Picture From the Past: LG Memorial Park

Sports Briefs

The Wildcats deal the Lancers their first softball loss

Los Gatos boys face undefeated Bellarmine volleyball team

CCS, SJ Sports Authority hand out senior athlete scholarships

Summer athletic activities for youth