Attorney: Argument 'Overstated' in Death Investigation

Witness reports of an argument between Pamela Walsh and her husband prior to Walsh's shooting death in her Hermosa Beach home on June 19 were "grossly overstated," according to an attorney representing her husband.

Prominent Redondo Beach defense attorney Tony Capozzola, who is representing Walsh's husband, William Edward McPherson, told Patch that he does not expect Walsh's death to be ruled as a homicide.

"I think there was too much emphasis placed on the fact that there was an argument," Capozzola said. "When the GSR (gunshot residue) tests and everything else are concluded, in my opinion, this will be established to be a suicide and not a homicide."

• Previously:

Capozzola said that investigators are still waiting on the results from gunshot residue, toxicology, tissue and gunshot pattern tests before a final decision is made on Walsh's cause of death.

No charges have been brought against McPherson. Capozzola said his client is fully cooperating with the investigation, while also dealing with the loss of his wife.

"He is obviously stressed," said Capozzola. "People just look at it as a possible homicide and this guy is under investigation, but he also lost a wife he had been married to for eight years... He is in the process of dealing with that grief, which people seem to completely ignore."

McPherson told investigators last week that his 43-year-old wife shot herself in their home in the 600 block of Eighth Street shortly after 11 p.m. on June 19, according to Deputy Mark Pope of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Headquarters Bureau, which is investigating the case.

Walsh was taken to a hospital, where she was declared dead, Pope said.

• Previously:

According to deputies, nearby witnesses heard an argument inside the house followed shortly after by a gunshot. It is that alleged argument that Capozzola said helped lead to a homicide investigation.

"It has given the police some incentive to proceed," he said. "Whenever there is an argument and they think there is some hostility between the parties, obviously they have to investigate further."

Capozzola said he expects the death investigation to wrap up within the next two weeks, at which point he believes Walsh's death will be ruled a suicide.