Suspect in LA killings of ‘American Idol’ exec, husband ordered to report to mental health court

LOS ANGELES — The 22-year-old man accused of killing an “American Idol” music supervisor and her husband at their Los Angeles home was back in court Wednesday, but he was not arraigned as expected.

Raymond Boodarian could be seen briefly through a door window. Witnesses in the courtroom say Boodarian was staring off and not responding to the judge.

Instead, he was ordered to report to mental health court on Sept. 3.

He is charged with two counts of murder and a count of residential burglary in the July 10 killings. All the counts include special circumstances.

Boodarian shot and killed Robin Kay and Thomas Deluca with their own gun, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman, after they interrupted him burglarizing their Encino home.

A criminal history

Eyewitness News learned that Boodarian has a criminal history, including charges of brandishing a knife and criminal threats against his stepfather in 2023, and battery against his mother and sister in 2024.

All three misdemeanor cases were dismissed late last year, with court documents showing that three months prior, Boodarian was declared mentally incompetent.

“Some of the questions are going to be, why was this case dismissed? Was he put on some type of diversion where he proved to the court and everyone he had since rehabilitated? Or did he slip through the cracks and this case was dismissed by accident, which is very rare?” said criminal defense attorney, Lou Shapiro.

Shapiro explained how California’s legal system may have played a role in the release of Kaye and Deluca’s accused killer.

“There’s a separate court, just for people with mental health issues, if they are eligible for that court, they usually get put on a different track, and for the most part, most people that go on that track do well,” Shapiro said. “But every so often, we have a situation like this, where it didn’t go the way it should have gone, and very tragically we have two people who are dead because of it.”