Man accused of shooting doctor ‘stalked’ neighbors, suit says
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The 75-year-old retired barber suspected of shooting a well-known Newport Beach urologist was sued by neighbors for stalking and trespassing, according to court documents.
Stanwood Fred Elkus, 75, is suspected of shooting Dr. Ronald Franklin Gilbert on Monday afternoon. He is being held on $1-million bail.
Workers say the shooting occurred in the doctor’s exam room and police say a motive has not been determined.
In 2007, Elkus was involved in a civil case involving a family with whom he shared a fence in his Lake Elsinore neighborhood. Initially, Elkus filed a claim against Melissa Evans and her family over the fence, said David Mayberry, the attorney for the family. The family later sued him.
From about May 2006 to September 2007, Elkus was accused of threatening the family’s dog, “incessantly” calling the family and sometimes showing up at their front door, according to a court filing.
He also “incessantly yelled, clapped and whistled at early morning hours” in the direction of the family’s home and stood in their backyard at 2 a.m. to taunt the dog, according to a filing.
“It was very bizarre behavior for a man that age,” Mayberry said.
Melissa Evans, a substitute teacher, said that Elkus taunted her family for about a year.
“He just couldn’t let it go,” said Evans, 36. “He couldn’t let go of something so small.”
Evans said that besides taunting her dog, Elkus sometimes tried to scare her and her three boys during a time when her husband was working out of town.
“He tried to push his way through the house,” she said of one encounter.
Evans said that Elkus would ride his bike or drive by the house to stare, or he would taunt the dog in the middle of the night. “I just think he wanted to keep us up, to be honest,” she said.
The family eventually moved out of their Lake Elsinore home to Wildomar, about 10 miles away. “Even after we moved he would go to our neighbors and ask where we were,” Evans said.
She said that Elkus once told her he had cancer and “would be dead soon.”
About three months ago, she said, she spotted him driving by their new home.
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-- Nicole Santa Cruz
