Police Had Been Looking for Man Who Shot Sons and Killed Himself

Police had been searching for Dewey Edward Zipprian--who had repeatedly called his wife and threatened to kill his three sons--the night before he killed his eldest son, wounded the other two and then killed himself, police said Wednesday.

However, police were unable to find Zipprian because he was at his girlfriend’s house in Mission Viejo and not at his Rancho Santa Margarita home.

Tustin Police Lt. Chuck Crane said Zipprian’s estranged wife, Mary Lynn Zipprian, called police Sunday night to say her husband had their three sons--Dewey Jr., 9, Larry Mitchell, 5, and Bret, 3--and was threatening to kill them unless she gave up a custody fight for them.

Crane said an all-points bulletin was issued, and police searched for Zipprian in Rancho Santa Margarita, and police in San Bernardino searched for Zipprian at a motel. Crane also said police in San Antonio, Tex., where the wife suspected her husband might have taken the children, were asked to be alert to his possible whereabouts.

But Zipprian was not located because he was at the home of his girlfriend, Susan Conrad.

“The problem was that we didn’t know where he was calling from,” Crane said. “You can’t foresee these kind of things sometimes. I wish we would have.”

By the time police found Zipprian on Monday morning, he had killed Dewey Jr. and wounded Larry and Bret before turning the .25-caliber gun on himself.

Don Woelfle, a neighbor in the Tustin apartment complex where Mary Zipprian lives, said he was present when Zipprian began calling his wife at about 7:30 p.m. Sunday.

“He would never stay on the line for more than 30 seconds before he’d hang up,” Woelfle said. “We got concerned because he was threatening to kill the kids. He’s never done that before. He kept saying, ‘You’ll never see the boys again.’

“I’d say he called about 20 or 30 times.”

Because Zipprian would not stay on the line long enough, police were unable to trace his calls.

And Woelfle said that he and Mary Zipprian could not tell police to search for the husband at Conrad’s home.

“We didn’t know her last name or where she lived. We just knew her name was Susan,” Woelfle said.

Conrad said that Zipprian and his three sons had a pleasant weekend, doing some shopping and then barbecuing steaks. However, she said he was “philosophical” on Sunday and wanted to discuss the existence of God with her.

She also said that she was unaware that Zipprian was calling his wife Sunday night.

“He must have called her while I was in the other room,” said Conrad, who met Zipprian only a few months ago.

Conrad also said Zipprian left with the boys early Monday, waking them before dawn and not allowing them to fully dress. She said she was unable to talk to him before he piled the boys in his car.

The Zipprians had separated in March, and the wife had recently filed for divorce. She sought custody of Bret and Teresa, the couple’s 14-year-old daughter who was with her mother when the boys were shot. In court papers, Mary Zipprian described a long history of physical abuse and family fights.

On June 26, the couple agreed to joint legal custody for all children, to grant Dewey Zipprian physical custody of Dewey Jr. and Mitchell, and to give the mother physical custody of Bret and Teresa. The parents agreed to alternate weekends with the children. Under the agreement, the father had custody of the boys last weekend.

But Conrad said Dewey Zipprian was not satisfied with that agreement and was upset over the custody battle with his wife.

“He wanted the three boys with him,” she said. Despite the agreement, Zipprian continued to harass his wife, according to documents she filed with her divorce petition. She said Zipprian had threatened her on July 12 when she had gone to his apartment to retrieve the two older sons.

Mary Zipprian also said that on July 26, her husband had come to her apartment without notice to pick up Dewey Jr. and Larry and had also tried unsuccessfully to take Bret. She later obtained a restraining order prohibiting Zipprian from coming within 150 yards of her.

Mary Zipprian was unavailable for comment Wednesday. However, Woelfle said she had entrusted him to make all public comments on her behalf.

“The shock is beginning to wear off for her, and the pain is setting in,” Woelfle said.

He said funeral arrangements for Dewey Jr. were incomplete, but he expected burial to be either Saturday or Sunday.

Meanwhile, Larry remained in critical condition at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center after surgery for a gunshot wound to the head. Woelfle said doctors were encouraged that the boy might recover without “any permanent damage.”

A hospital spokeswoman said Tuesday that Bret had been upgraded from serious to fair condition. He was shot once in the abdomen.