A 75-year-old man has been charged with fatally shooting his wife of 35 years, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office announced Thursday.

Thomas Foster pleaded not guilty to one count of murder with handgun use allegations Wednesday.

Los Angeles police were conducting a welfare check at a house in the 4000 block of Corinth Avenue in Mar Vista when they found Foster and his wife on the floor, said Deputy Dist. Atty. David Berger. His wife, Donie Vanitzian, died of a gunshot wound and Foster was nearly unconscious, Berger said.

The pair were married for 35 years.


Vanitzian, 67, was a longtime Los Angeles Times contributor who wrote a weekly column on homeowners associations for the Sunday Business section.

Foster’s bail is set at $3 million. He faces a possible maximum sentence of 50 years to life in state prison if convicted as charged.

sarah.parvini@latimes.com

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