Police Investigating Death of Woman, 72, as Homicide

ANAHEIM — The death of a 72-year-old woman inside her knitting business is being investigated as a homicide, police said Tuesday.

The body of Alvina Lucy Murdaugh of Santa Ana was found Monday in a work area of Aldea’s Knit Shop in the 1100 block of Kraemer Boulevard, where she sold knitting supplies and held classes.

There were no visible signs of trauma, and “the cause of death isn’t obvious at this point,” Anaheim Police Lt. Ted Labahn said. He would not say why investigators suspect homicide.

Nearby employees said Tuesday they became suspicious after seeing her car parked out front, her shop locked during business hours and the morning paper unopened. A few customers had arrived and were peering into the shop. One woman called the business and there was no answer.

Ralph Reece, a handyman and longtime friend of Murdaugh’s with a key to her businesses, and a woman who works next door discovered her body about 11:45 a.m.

Police said she was last seen at 3 p.m. Sunday at her son’s home in Santa Ana. The cash register was empty when police arrived, but her acquaintances said that wasn’t unusual.

Murdaugh, who has been running a knitting shop between 20 to 30 years, moved into the Kraemer Boulevard unit about three years ago and planned to move to another building. A widow, Murdaugh lived with her son but sometimes slept at the shop, friends said.

Nolan Everitt, owner of a glass etching business next door, said that when he walked into the shop Monday, he saw her lying on the floor, with “superficial blood “ on her head.

He described the shop owner as a “tough cookie” whom customers adored. One customer who had met Murdaugh two weeks ago already had plans to take her out to dinner and had offered to help her move into her new shop, Everitt said.

She was “tough and stubborn,” Reece said, “someone who had a lot of hurts but would never admit it.”