Glen Giles, BHS 1978

SUSPECT NABBED IN SLAYING OF BURBANK MAN - INVESTIGATION: MOTIVE FOR KILLING IS NOT YET DETERMINED.

Daily News of Los Angeles (CA) - Thursday, February 28, 2008
Author: Alex Dobuzinskis Staff Writer

BURBANK -- A day after a Burbank man was stabbed to death in the city's first homicide of the year, police Wednesday said they have a suspect in custody.

Glen Giles , 47, was found dead across the street from his home after making it to the porch of a neighbor's house where he had apparently gone to seek help, police said. Police late Wednesday would not release the name of the suspect, saying it might jeopardize their investigation. At this point, (investigators) just need to make sure that all the loose ends are tied up,'' said Sgt. Travis Irving, spokesman for the Burbank Police Department.

Investigators were still trying to determine the motive for the slaying, Irving said. His body was discovered 10 a.m. Tuesday in the 3000 block of Joaquin Drive, in a quiet hillside area of Burbank. Giles worked in business- to-business publishing, and news of his death spread quickly among colleagues. Many who knew Giles wondered how such a crime could have occurred to the 6-foot-4 former varsity basketball player.

``I just don't understand it,'' said Jim Kuchinsky, 55, president and CEO of Hallmark Data Systems, the company Giles worked for. ``He'd be the kind of guy who would swat someone (who attacked him) away pretty quick. I just don't understand it, and none of us can get over that part of it. How someone could do something like that is beyond me,'' he said.

Giles worked as director of new business development in a Burbank office for Illinois-based Hallmark Data. Christine Oldenbrook of San Pedro, who also works in publishing, knew Giles for 27 years. Oldenbrook said she last saw Giles a week ago when they were returning from a Miami business conference.

In January, Giles organized a youth basketball competition at an Elks Lodge. ``He was so proud of it,'' Oldenbrook said. ``He called me right afterwards and said he really felt like he was doing something he loved and was giving back.'' Giles was single, with two sisters and a mother, and he was close to his family, Oldenbrook said.

Police today expect to release the name of the man they arrested.