UPDATE (July 15): An arrest has been made in the murders of Robin Kaye — who worked as a music supervisor on American Idol for 15 seasons — and her husband, Thomas Deluca, who were found dead in their Encino, Calif., home on Monday (July 14).
A representative for the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to Billboard that Raymond Boodarian, 22, had been arrested for a double murder. Like the victims, he lived in Encino, a suburb of Los Angeles.
In a press conference held by the LAPD late Tuesday (July 15) afternoon, Lt. Guy Golan said it appeared, according to surveillance video from the home’s exterior, that the suspect had jumped a fence at Kaye and Deluca’s residence on Thursday (July 10) and was in their home for about 30 minutes before the pair walked in on him. The detective said there was a “violent struggle” and the homeowners were “ruthlessly shot multiple times,” but added there was no surveillance video from inside the house.
At this point, there is no known motive, and it appears to have been a random attack. No weapon has been recovered. Boodarian was arrested without incident, according to the Los Angeles Times.
PREVIOUSLY: Robin Kaye, who worked as a music supervisor on American Idol for 15 seasons, and her husband Thomas Deluca were found dead in their Los Angeles home on Monday (July 14), according to reports from Deadline and TMZ.
Kaye and Deluca, both 70, were reportedly found dead in separate rooms of their home from apparent gunshot wounds. The reports state that authorities discovered the bodies while doing a welfare check on the household Monday.
TMZ also claims that police entered Kaye’s house by smashing a window after spotting blood at the entrance. Four days prior, police had been called to the same residence to check out reports of an unidentified suspect that neighbors had seen trying to gain entry, according to the outlet.
In a statement shared with Billboard, an American Idol spokesperson said, “We are devastated to hear of Robin and her dear husband, Tom’s, passing.”
“Robin has been a cornerstone of the Idol family since 2009 and was truly loved and respected by all who came in contact with her,” the statement continued. “Robin will remain in our hearts forever and we share our deepest sympathy with her family and friends during this difficult time.”
According to her IMDb page, Kaye had experience in multiple areas of the music industry before she made the leap to music supervision. After working for Waylon Jennings in Nashville and joining MTM Records as vp of artist development and broadcast media, she spent some time in Chicago before moving to L.A.
Kaye also worked in the film and TV licensing department at MCA-Universal Records and oversaw music licensing for PolyGram Records. In 2000, she founded her own company, SyncroniCity, which handles music supervision for shows such as Idol. The other programs on Kaye’s resume are Lip Sync Battle, Hollywood Game Night, NAACP Image Awards, The Singing Bee, Miss USA, Miss Universe, American Inventor, Q’Viva , The Dance Scene, Dance Your Ass Off, Your Chance To Dance, Adventures of Power and Crashed.
Featuring judges Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood and Lionel Richie, Idol wrapped its 23rd season in May. The show first premiered in 2002, running for 15 seasons before it went on hiatus in 2016.
The series was resurrected in 2018 with Bryan, Richie and Katy Perry — who has since been replaced by Underwood — on board.
