Elinor Hill Manson, 74

Elinor Manson, a 74-year-old white woman, died of blunt-force trauma and suffocation Wednesday, April 1, 2009, after her ex-husband allegedly strangled her in her home in the 100 block of South Virginia Avenue in Pasadena, authorities said.

Pasadena police officers are supervising the hospitalization of suspect William Manson, 78, who injected himself with an unidentified liquid that night after police were called, said Lt. Chris Russ of the Pasadena Police Department.

The Mansons had been divorced for several years, and William Manson did not live at the house where his ex-wife was killed, Russ said.

William Manson had gone to the single-family home at 90 S. Virginia Ave. to discuss the pair’s 40-year-old daughter and apparently strangled Elinor Hill Manson, Russ said.

Neighbors said they heard screaming about 9:45 p.m. Wednesday and called 911. The suspect also called his daughter from the home, police said.  She arrived at the home and telephoned police. Officers arrived to find Elinor Manson dead.

“We just don’t see something like this every day,” Russ said. “The age of the parties involved makes it somewhat unusual.”

-- Jia-Rui Chong