Editor’s note: On Nov. 28, authorities announced that the coroner’s office found that the stab wounds in this incident were not the cause of death. In light of that finding, police reclassified this case from a murder investigation to an “undetermined death investigation.” Read our updated story here. Prior to that announcement, this story had been updated with additional information from the Long Beach Police Department, including the corrected address of the incident.
Long Beach police are investigating a stabbing that left one man dead at the Century Villages at Cabrillo on Saturday afternoon.
Officers responded to the 2000 block of San Gabriel Avenue just after 4:45 p.m. Saturday to assist Fire Department personnel with a reported battery, according to authorities. Upon arrival, police contacted the suspect, 64-year-old Ronald Wandersee, a Long Beach resident, who was being treated for non-life-threatening lacerations on his upper body.
Other officers located another man, identified as Michael Marker, a 58-year-old Long Beach resident, with multiple stab wounds to the upper body on the 2100 block of Williams Street, across the Century Villages campus. Officers began life-saving measures before paramedics took over, but Marker was pronounced dead at the scene.
Through their preliminary investigation, homicide detectives have learned the two men knew each other and got into an argument. According to police, Marker allegedly began physically assaulting Wandersee, who then pulled out a knife and stabbed Marker repeatedly.
Wandersee was arrested and transported to a local hospital for medical clearance before being booked for murder, according to the LBPD. His bail is set at $2 million, and detectives are expected to present the case to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office later this week.
Anyone with information regarding the incident should contact Homicide Detectives Michael Hubbard or Jesus Espinoza at 562-570-7244. Anonymous tips may be submitted through LA Crime Stoppers by calling 800-222-TIPS (8477), through the P3 Tips app or at lacrimestoppers.org.