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A former executive on ABC’s American Idol and her husband became the victims of a double homicide, and police say they have a suspect in custody.
On Monday, July 14, 2025, husband and wife Thomas Deluca and Robin Kaye, both 70, were found shot to death in their Encino home, according to a press release issued Tuesday by the Los Angeles Police Department. Officials believe they were killed after walking in on what appeared to be a burglary in progress, though investigations are still underway.
TMZ was first to identify the female suspect as the award-winning music supervisor of the hit talent series.
Sources told the Los Angeles Times that the victims were found in separate rooms and had sustained multiple gunshot wounds. Los Angeles’s KTLA reported both were shot in the head.
Police arrested Encino resident Raymond Boodarian, 22, without incident on Tuesday, they stated in their press release.
About the murders of Robin Kaye and Thomas Deluca
On Monday, at around 2:30 p.m., officers with LA’s West Valley Division responded to requests for a welfare check at the couple’s White Oak Avenue residence after reports that neighbors hadn’t seen them for days. The $4.5 million home was described by the LA Times as a fortified residence equipped with security cameras and a high wall bordering the property.
Inside, Kaye and Deluca were dead.
Operations-Valley Bureau Homicide investigators secured the scene and took statements from the victims’ relatives and friends. They reviewed available security footage to learn more about the grisly crimes.
The LAPD said, “It was discovered that a prior radio call” was made days earlier, on Thursday, July 10, 2025, about a possible burglar at the same residence at around 4:00 p.m. One neighbor claimed someone scaled the outside wall, according to Variety.
At the time, police stated they “found no signs of forced entry or trouble,” though it is “now believed that the suspect had gained entry into the residence through an unlocked door.”
“The victims returned home while the suspect was inside their residence, and a confrontation ensued, which resulted in the suspect taking their lives,” authorities stated. “The victims succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds, and the suspect fled from the residence on foot.”
The arrest of Raymond Boodarian
Homicide investigators worked through the night with the LAPD’s Gang and Narcotics Division, West Valley officials, and the FBI Fugitive Task Force to home in on suspect Raymond Boodarian.
Currently, authorities are gleaning whether the suspect knew the victims or “was involved in any past calls for service” at the home.
Although the LAPD released little about Boodarian, the LA Times obtained court records that showed a rap sheet consisting of charges of battery, exhibiting a deadly weapon, and threatening to commit a crime with the intent to terrorize.
However, those charges were dismissed due to questions surrounding the suspect’s mental capacity and a reported conservatorship, per the Times.
What we know about the victims
An American Idol spokesperson called Kaye “a cornerstone for the Idol family,” and stated their deaths “devastated” those she’d worked with during her time with the ABC series between 2009 and 2023, according to the LA Times.
“[Kaye] 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.”
On top of American Idol, Kaye’s musical credits include many NAACP Image Award ceremonies, Lip Sync Battle, The Singing Bee, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and multiple Miss Universe pageants.
Deluca, too, was a musician, perhaps best known for singing his 1986 album, Down to the Wire, according to the LA Times. Spotify shows his latest album was 2022’s Street Rock.
Public records stated Kaye and Deluca purchased the luxury home in which they died in 2023, according to KTLA. The residence was famous for once being owned by the late rapper Juice WRLD.