Business dispute may have led to O.C. woman’s slaying, police say

A Costa Mesa woman who was fatally shot over the weekend was killed by her former business partner, police said.

Thomas Michael Wilhelm, 48, was arrested Sunday on suspicion of murder and is being held in the Orange County Jail in lieu of $1-million bail, Costa Mesa police said.

Neighbors reported hearing a possible episode of domestic violence at the home Wilhelm shared with Christian Marie Murray, 45, in the 2900 block of Redwood Avenue and called police, authorities said. Neighbors reporting hearing several gunshots before officers arrived, according to the Daily Pilot.

Just as officers pulled up they heard a final shot, authorities said.

The officers immediately went inside and found Murray lying in the bedroom with several gunshot wounds to the chest. She was later pronounced dead at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana.

Wilhelm was found alone in the backyard, police said, and may have tried to shoot himself with a shotgun before they arrived.

According to police, Wilhelm's relationship with Murray had deteriorated over the last two years, and Sunday's shooting may have been about the business they once shared. The pair were also linked romantically, neighbors said.

A website the Better Business Bureau attributes to Wilhelm's company, Tom Wilhelm Sprinkler Co., suggests he has been separated from and is no longer associated with the company. A notice on the company's website says that Wilhelm is an unlicensed contractor.

Murray, who is listed in Costa Mesa records as the company's chief financial officer, incorporated the business on June 30 and did not list Wilhelm anywhere on the application, state licensing board officials said.

Rick Lopes of the state licensing board said the state was unaware that Wilhelm was associated with Wilhelm Sprinkler when it granted Murray her license because Wilhelm was not on the application.

If comments on the company's website are an indication, the disagreement between Wilhelm and Murray had recently escalated.

Several entries claim Wilhelm's business was being stolen from him, then they urge people to call Wilhelm's phone number for service rather than Murray's, which is listed on the site.

-- Joseph Serna, Times Community News

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-- Joseph Serna, Times Community News

Photo: Thomas Michael Wilhelm. Credit: Costa Mesa Police Department