Suspect Arrested in Murder of Theatre Director

LAPD Detectives last night arrested a suspect in the murder of 59-year-old Ben Bradley, the theatre director and producer from the Fountain Theatre in East Hollywood. Bradley was found stabbed to death on Saturday in his Koreatown apartment Saturday night after not showing for a threatre rehearsal. Police at that time were working off few clues and thought it may have been a robbery gone awry.

Detectives at a press conference this afternoon announced that 25-year-old Jose Fructuoso, a Mexican citizen, was arrested yesterday at 10 p.m. Police said they obtained a lead--a phone conversation prior to the murder--that led to the arrest and subsequent search of Fructuoso's home, just one block from Bradley's, where evidence, and possibly the murder weapon, was found connecting the two men. Fructuoso has since confessed to the crime. A motive was not announced, but the two were apparently involved in an intimate relationship, said police.