Wife arrested in slaying of Olympic medalist found shot in his Oxnard backyard

In a new twist in a Ventura County mystery, Oxnard police have arrested the wife of former Olympic medalist David Laut in connection with his slaying last year.

Laut, a bronze medalist in the shot-put at the 1984 Olympics, was shot several times in the head on Aug. 28 and found in the backyard of his Oxnard home.

According to a statement from Oxnard police, Jane Laut was arrested on suspicion of homicide on Saturday.

"The arrest this morning of Mrs. Laut took place during a traffic stop near the intersection of 3rd and F streets," the statement said. "She was taken into custody without incident." 

Police said an arrest warrant for Jane Laut had been issued recently. She was booked into Ventura County jail, and bail was set at $3 million, according to the police statement. No motive was cited. 

Authorities originally believed David Laut had been shot when confronting burglars in his backyard.

Police called to the scene found him lying in the side yard of his tidy beige-and-white stucco home, dead from multiple gunshot wounds.

Laut was athletic director at nearby Hueneme High School, a post he took a year ago, said Principal Adrian Palazuelos. Before that, he served for eight years as track coach at Hueneme High, and then left for one year to take a coaching job at a school in Ventura.

Laut's late father was a longtime science teacher at Hueneme High, Palazuelos said.

-- Shelby Grad

Photo: Tony Duffy / Getty Images

Comments

[fat dog]

Some years ago, it might have been possible to understand how this could happen, but with divorce so easy these days, one can only wonder why.

[davidozone]

She will get off easy as Gloria allred will represent her as the longsuffering battered and bruised adoring housewife by an alcoholic battering brute.Lost in the "mayhem" will be her lies to detectives that it was an intruder and her motive for his life insurance policySurprised it took detectives this long to get her to fess up,after all intruders rarely shoot a homeowner seven times!Sad but true.

[Hm]

Feminism at work.

[maria martinez]

she should think about before than doing the act