Son of slain California couple is ‘primary suspect’ in Sunday’s shooting, police say

Simi Valley police said Tuesday, Dec. 2, that they believe that Keith E. Cordes, the son of Eric Cordes and stepson of Vicki Cordes, killed the couple in their garage on Sunday.

“He’s our primary suspect,” Sgt. Rick Morton said.

Police had not previously conclusively linked the man found dead of a gunshot wound in a Chino park to the crime.

Police and the San Bernardino County Coroner’s Office on Tuesday identified Keith E. Cordes, 37, as the man who shot himself at Ayala Park in Chino around 2:30 p.m. and was found lying next to his burning car. The discovery happened about two and a half hours after witnesses saw a man point a gun into an open garage and shoot Eric Cordes, a 63-year-old radiologist, and Vicki Cordes, 66.

Both suffered multiple gunshot wounds, Morton said.

Detectives identified a vehicle leaving the scene and spotted it on a license plate reading camera traveling on the 210 Freeway. The car, registered to Keith Cordes, left a freeway in Chino and was parked at Ayala Park. There, Simi Valley police said, Cordes set the car on fire and shot himself. His body was found outside the car and suffered from burns that made it difficult to identify him.

Massiel De Guevara, a Chino Valley Fire District spokeswoman, declined to announce the cause of the fire, citing the ongoing criminal investigation.

A gun was found lying nearby.

“Detectives believe the firearm recovered from Keith’s suicide is the same weapon used in the homicides,” Simi Valley police said.

Detectives are still assembling a narrative surrounding the slayings.

Although the coroner lists Keith Cordes as a resident of Simi Valley, Morton said Cordes lived in Kentucky. Detectives do not know yet how long before the shooting Cordes arrived in California. Relatives have not been able to provide a motive, Morton said.