A longtime doctor and his wife were fatally gunned down in a “targeted” shooting at their ritzy California home Sunday afternoon — with a grisly suicide 70 miles away believed to be connected to the double murder, authorities said.
The slain couple, identified as Dr. Eric Cordes and his spouse Vicki, were found with gunshot wounds in the garage of their Simi Valley home and later pronounced dead at the hospital, police said.
“Dr. Cordes was a highly respected, board-certified radiologist and beloved physician who served this community with compassion and excellence for nearly 30 years,” Adventist Health Simi Valley said in a statement, according to reports.
“Our hearts are with his family, friends, and all who had the privilege of working alongside him as we grieve this shocking loss.”
The Cordes’ home sits at the end of a well-manicured cul-de-sac in the tony neighborhood that turned into a blood-soaked crime scene around noon.
“We do believe the victims were targeted,” Simi Valley Det. Sgt. Rick Morton said during a press conference Monday. “We don’t believe they were random victims.”
Morton told The Post on Monday a gunman walked up to the house and opened fire before fleeing in a black Honda civic.
A car matching that description was found nearly three hours later burned in the city of Chino — with a person dead in an apparent suicide near the vehicle, Morton said.
“We believe the two are linked,” he said of the double murder-suicide. “The vehicle that left our crime scene matches the vehicle that was found in Chino.”
A handgun was also recovered at the scene in Chino, but it’s unclear if that was the murder weapon that killed the Cordes, Morton said at the press conference.
The charred body has not yet been identified and no motive has been revealed, Morton said.
“Simi Valley in general – things like this don’t happen so in the community there, much to their surmise, they’re very shocked,” he said. “It is a quiet residential neighborhood.”

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