Simi Valley man arrested for fatally stabbing stepson

"For him to do something like this, something really went wrong, bad", says Chuck Rudziewicz as he stares at his neighbor's house.

That neighbor now in custody for the stabbing death of his stepson.

The story starts at 11:45 Thursday night. That's when the Simi Valley Police Department says they received a 911 call from a home on the 2200 block of Hietter Street.

When they arrived, patrol officers walked right into a family tragedy; one man in his 20s was dead and the man suspected of killing him? His stepfather.

"His stepson had to push him very hard. I can't see any way of getting Howard upset", says Chuck in disbelief. He describes his neighbor Howard as a happy go-lucky kind of a guy, the one neighbor always willing to help others.

And that attitude may also have been reflected in Howard's volunteer work, he was a civilian volunteer at an with the LAPD.

"It's a tragedy", says Commander Joseph May with the Simi Valley Police Department. "What drove this person to change from giving to the community to taking someone's life?"

"I can't believe it", says Chuck. "He was too good of a guy. I called him a pacifist."

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