DeLuca

A 22-year-old man was charged Thursday with killing an “American Idol” music supervisor and her musician husband who walked into their Encino home during a burglary.

Raymond Boodarian is accused of fatally shooting Robin Kaye and her husband, Tom DeLuca, on July 10. Los Angeles police did not find their bodies until four days later, when officers were sent to the home for a welfare check.

Boodarian is charged with two counts of murder with enhancements for allegedly killing the couple during the commission of a robbery, intentionally using a firearm, and committing multiple murders. He is also charged with burglary.

During an initial court appearance in Van Nuys on Thursday afternoon, Boodarian was ordered to remain in jail. His arraignment was delayed until Aug. 20.

If convicted, Boodarian would face either life without parole or execution if prosecutors seek the death penalty.

According to police, officers visited the Encino home around the time Boodarian was believed to be inside.

The Los Angeles Police Department responded to a report of a possible break-in at 4 p.m. July 10 and determined that nothing appeared out of place at the couple’s residence, Lt. Guy Golan said.

Officers reported that the property was locked and no one responded inside, while a police helicopter from overhead reported not seeing anything suspicious.

Kaye and DeLuca’s bodies were discovered Monday when officers responded to a welfare check at the couple’s homes in the 4700 block of White Oak Avenue. The following day, officers with a joint LAPD-FBI task force arrested Boodarian.

According to police, Kaye, an “American Idol” music supervisor and her rock musician husband, DeLuca, were returning to their $4.5-million Encino home when they came upon Booderian.

Booderian allegedly shot Kaye and DeLuca multiple times then ran off, locking the door behind him. Though the couple’s house was well fortified, police said, the suspect had managed to get in through an unlocked door.

According to Golan, the department received a call at 4 p.m. the day the couple was killed and the caller described seeing a person climbing over a fence into the property. Golan said officers went to the home, but did not get any response and saw nothing out of place, and a helicopter was flown over the property because it was difficult to access.

By then, the couple had been killed, LAPD officials said. Boodarian left after about half an hour, police said.

The delay in finding Kaye and DeLuca’s bodies bore similarities to two other homicides in the Valley where police were called the location and did not immediately find a victim and left the scene.

Menashe Hidra’s body was found April 26 inside his fifth-floor Valley Village apartment after an assailant broke into a neighboring unit, jumped from the balcony to his unit and attacked him, investigators said.

Three days before, neighbors had called 911 and reported hearing shouting and a struggle coming from the apartment. Officers responded to those calls, knocked on the door and left without finding anything.

Erick Escamilla, 27, was charged with the killing, along with an unrelated homicide from 2022.

The same day that Hidra’s body was discovered, police found the body of Aleksandre Modebadze, who was beaten to death inside his Woodland Hills home.

In that case, a woman inside the home called LAPD about 12:30 a.m. and reported three people had broken into her home and were beating her significant other before the call suddenly cut out, according to law enforcement sources. The 911 operator tried to call back multiple times without success.

Shortly before 1 a.m., officers arrived at the home but no one answered the door, there was no noise coming from inside the home, and the blinds were down, the sources told The Times.

Modebadze was later found by officers badly beaten with a traumatic head injury and died of his injuries. Authorities arrested suspects hours after the attack.

In this Encino case, Golan said the department would investigate why the couple, who were both 70, were not found earlier and whether the officers involved acted appropriately. LAPD officials said the front door of the home was not visible from the outside during the initial response.

According to court records, Boodarian was charged in three instances of misdemeanor battery last year. Those charges were ultimately dropped a series of hearings related to his mental competency and a conservatorship investigation.

Veteran music supervisor Robin Kaye, best known for her lengthy tenure on “American Idol,” leaves behind a legacy of “light, kindness, and joy.”

Singer-songwriter and former “Idol” contestant Didi Benami in a Tuesday Instagram story praised Kaye as “one of the kindest souls I’ve ever had the privilege of working with” as she mourned the executive’s death. Kaye and her husband Tom Deluca are the victims of a double homicide that occurred in their Encino home, Los Angeles police announced Tuesday. They both died at age 70.

“Still in disbelief and trying to make sense of it all. My heart is broken. Some souls leave a light behind even after they’re gone,” Benami wrote in another Instagram post shared Wednesday. “Robin, you are so loved. Always will be. Honoring the light, kindness, and joy you brought into this world. May your memory— and the love you gave —never be forgotten.”

Vocal coach Benami, who competed on Season 9 of “Idol,” was among the musicians and music industry figures paying tribute on social media to Kaye and her contributions. Kaye served as a music supervisor on “American Idol” from 2009 to 2023 and contributed to nearly 300 episodes during her tenure.

In a statement shared with The Times on Tuesday, a spokesperson for “American Idol” described Kaye as a “cornerstone of the ‘Idol’ family” and said the production was “devastated” by news of her and Deluca’s deaths. “She was truly loved and respected by all who came in contact with her,” the statement added.

Randy Jackson, one of “American Idol’s” original trio of judges, echoed those sentiments on Instagram, writing on Tuesday that Kaye was a “dear friend to me and so many — judges, executives, contestants, publishers, writers, producers, and artists alike.” He posted a photo of himself with Kaye, noting in his caption that she “consistently went the extra mile, meticulously ensuring songs were placed and cleared for the show.”

“She was truly one of a kind,” he said.

In a call with The Times on Wednesday, longtime “Idol” music provider Brad Segal highlighted Kaye’s sympathetic nature, loyalty and her dedicated work ethic. “We all hope for that when you meet somebody,” he said. Segal said he met Kaye in the early aughts and had crossed paths with her over the years at other TV productions.

He praised Kaye’s wealth of “knowledge of all types of music” and he said she provided a comfortable working experience that helped set the foundation of their years-long collaborations on “Idol.” Segal told The Times that Kaye was accommodating to her collaborators, ranging from him to the contestants she worked with. Simply, “she cared.”

“She cared about what she did. She cared about being fair,” Segal said.

Kaye and Deluca are believed to have been killed after walking in on a burglary suspect inside their $4.5-million home Thursday, according to LAPD. The suspect — identified by homicide investigators as 22-year-old Encino resident Raymond Boodarian — is believed to have entered the heavily secured home through an unlocked door, police said. After the couple returned home, “a confrontation ensued, which resulted in the suspect taking their lives,” police said.

Their bodies were not discovered until officers responded Monday around 2:30 p.m. to a welfare check in the 4700 block of White Oak Avenue, where they discovered two people inside the home, LAPD Det. Meghan Aguilar said early Tuesday. Paramedics responded and declared the pair dead at the scene.

Boodarian was apprehended Tuesday without incident by LAPD and FBI task force officers, Los Angeles Police Lt. Guy Golan, said. The killings appeared to be random, Golan said, but investigators were looking for any connection between the suspect and Deluca and Kaye.

Times staff writer Richard Winton and deputy editor Joe Serna contributed to this report.