Father Listed as Suspect in Killings

Ian Stuart Spiro, a 46-year-old commodities dealer, was officially listed Saturday as a suspect in the murders of his wife and three children, who were killed as they lay sleeping in their Rancho Santa Fe home last week.

Sheriff’s deputies warned the public that Spiro, a British national, might be armed, and that his appearance could be altered by three or four days’ growth of beard. They asked that anyone who has seen the family’s white 1992 Ford Explorer XLT with the California license plate number 2ZLA116 call detectives immediately.

Until now, deputies were reluctant to describe Spiro as a suspect, believing he might also be a victim of the attack. But Saturday afternoon, two days after the bodies were found and five or six days after the four victims were shot, Spiro was described as a suspect in the killings.

Sheriff’s homicide Lt. John Tenwolde said Saturday that detectives were expanding their search nationwide in an effort to find Spiro. Because there was no sign of forced entry at the home in the 5200 block of Avenida Maravillas, and because the family members were killed in their bedclothes, some detectives believe Spiro is a prime suspect in the killings.

Detectives found the bodies in separate rooms Thursday evening after neighbors, concerned about not seeing the Spiros for days, visited the home. One neighbor saw the body of a child through a glass door and called the Fire Department.

Firefighters forced their way into the home and called sheriff’s deputies, who found the bodies of Spiro’s wife, Gail, 41, and their children, Sara, 16; Adam, 14, and Dina, 11. All were wearing bedclothes.

Ian Spiro is described as 6-foot-2, 185 pounds, with graying black hair, hazel eyes and a droopy mustache.

For the third straight day, investigators combed the Spiros’ rented home in Rancho Santa Fe. The autopsy results were sealed pending the outcome of the investigation.

Anyone with information about Spiro is urged to call homicide detectives at 692-5600 or 565-5200.

Meanwhile, officials said they are investigating reports published Saturday in the Oceanside Blade-Citizen that Spiro may have been linked to the Lebanese hostage crisis, Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North and former Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite, who was taken hostage in 1987 and held for more than four years by Shiite Muslim zealots.

The newspaper quoted Cornelius Coughlin, a reporter for the Sunday Telegraph in London who alleged in his recently published book, “Hostage,” that Spiro was a CIA and British intelligence spy, according to the Blade-Citizen.

Coughlin told the newspaper Friday that North introduced Spiro to Waite before he was taken hostage. The newspaper said Spiro was used to aid Waite because Spiro had contact with Shiite Muslim groups and spoke their language.

Coughlin said he fears Spiro might seek retribution against him for exposing him in his book, the newspaper said. Coughlin declined to speculate on who killed Spiro’s wife and three children, but he told the Blade-Citizen that he thought it was unlikely Lebanese terrorists were behind the slayings.

Tenwolde described Spiro as British and an international businessman who hailed from London. The family had lived in England, France and possibly Canada before moving to San Diego, he said.

According to property records, the Spiros rented the sprawling four-bedroom home on 1.7 acres in April after having moved to San Diego County in 1991 from Nice, France. Spiro worked out of the home, and his estimated monthly income was $20,000, according to records. Investigators said the Spiros had been renting the estate for $4,500 a month.

The family members, including the father, were last seen at the house Sunday afternoon by friends and neighbors, police said.