Peter Owen
VENTURA COUNTY — This coming Father’s Day will undoubtedly be a sad reminder for the family of 23-year-old Peter Owen, who allegedly shot his 50-year-old father, Aleric Owen, to death on the morning of May 22nd.
According to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Cpt. Garo Kuredjian, deputies first responded to a 9-1-1 emergency call reporting shots fired in the vicinity of 14000 Santa Paula-Ojai Road, an unincorporated rural area of the Upper Ojai Valley. While en route, deputies were further informed by first responder fire units of “a man down” at that location.
When deputies rolled up to the scene, Ventura County Fire medics had pronounced the elder Owen—whose body indicated “multiple gunshot wounds”—dead.
The immediately ensuing investigation conducted by the VCSD Major Crimes Bureau and described by VCSD Sgt. Mark Gillette as “thorough and exhaustive” which took the better part of the entire afternoon, led deputies to identify the victim’s son as the one and only suspect responsible for his father’s untimely demise.
Not long thereafter, Peter Owen was contacted by detectives and placed under arrest. He was then transported to Ventura County Jail, where he was booked on a charge of first-degree homicide pursuant to Penal Code §187(a). He currently remains in custody, with his bail set at $750,000. In addition to the murder charge, Owen reportedly faces the additional charge of using a firearm to cause great bodily injury.
Photo: courtesy Ventura County Jail Booking
