A former boyfriend and business associate of the woman killed in an Aliso Viejo building explosion was in federal custody Thursday for alleged possession of an unregistered destructive device, but he has not been linked to the deadly blast.
“During the course of the investigation into the May 15 explosion in Aliso Viejo, investigators found a destructive device during the service of a search warrant at a Long Beach residence,” FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said in a statement Thursday morning.
“The resident, Stephen Beal, 59, of Long Beach, was arrested on suspicion of being in possession of an unregistered destructive device,” Eimiller said. “Mr. Beal is not being charged in connection with the explosion. He is expected to make an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana this afternoon.”
No other details will be released until Beal is charged, Eimiller said.
Investigators said Wednesday they “do not believe this was an accident” but they did not know how the device arrived at the building.
Ildiko Krajnyak, 48, a beautician who owned a day spa called Magyar Kozmetika in the building at 11 Mareblu, was identified as the victim of Tuesday afternoon’s explosion. The business is on the first floor of the building.
FBI agents conducted a search at Krajnyak’s home on Drover Court in Trabuco Canyon Wednesday and were seen carrying several boxes out of the house. Investigators also served a search warrant at a home in Long Beach, Orange County Undersheriff Don Barnes said.
Barnes did not provide any details of the warrants, but neighbors told NBC4 Wednesday that the man at the Long Beach home — apparently Beal — was being questioned, and he had recently broken up with his girlfriend and was distraught.
Neighbor “Mushroom” Montoya told reporters he was shocked at the focus on Beal.
“We can’t fathom he would do anything mean, or nasty, or anything else,” Montoya said. “He used to make rockets about as big as I am. He would do it in the driveway by his garage. He’d go out to the desert and fire them off.”
Neighbors told reporters that Beal and Krajnyak dated and that he was an investor in her day spa. Pictures of the pair are posted on Beal’s Facebook page, showing them traveling around the world.
“If I were the police and I have an explosive issue — a bombing — and I come to this house and I find rocket fuel plus they were business partners, then all these things kind of enter into play in terms of it being suspicious,” Montoya said.
Another neighbor told reporters that Beal’s late wife died 10 years ago. Don Westerhoff said Beal told neighbors that the pair had been moving a heavy cabinet downstairs, when Beal lost his grip on the furniture and it slid down the stairs, crushing his wife.
Beal told neighbors it “slipped out of his hand and took her downstairs faster than she could run backwards, I guess,” Westerhoff said.
KTLA reported that coroner’s records indicate Beal’s wife died of pancreatitis and other undetermined factors.
Beal’s Facebook page describes himself as an actor. An Internet Movie Database page for Beal lists a series of minor credits, including the TV movie “Samuel Adams” and several shorts and small productions.
Authorities said an explosive device went off inside the day spa shortly after 1 p.m. Tuesday.
Paul Delacourt, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, said the “working theory is this explosion was caused by a device,” and he reiterated that investigators “do not believe this was an accident.”
“There are some components we have located at the scene that are inconsistent with what one might expect to find at this business,” Delacourt said. He said those items were being shipped to the FBI’s crime lab for analysis.
Delacourt urged anyone who might have information about the blast to call a hotline at (800) CALL-FBI, or (800) 225-5324.
Authorities initially went to the building at 1:10 p.m. Tuesday in response to a report that a car had crashed into the building, but Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Tony Bommarito and sheriff’s officials said later that was not the case. Bommarito said the blast occurred inside the building, and the woman who died was in close proximity to the explosion.
Bommarito said one of the injured people suffered from smoke inhalation.
The other two victims, both women, were believed to be customers inside the day spa when the explosion occurred, Barnes said. They were both expected to survive.
Irene White, a friend of Krajnyak’s family, told reporters Wednesday that the explosion was a “complete shock” to the victim’s loved ones.
“Family always came first for” Krajnyak, White said. “She took great pride in finding beauty in everyone.”
White appealed for contributions to a GoFundMe site, which seeks financial assistance to bring the victim’s son, Keanu Laszlo Vestil, home from Seattle, where he attends the University of Washington. The fund also seeks help for the funeral expenses.
Delacourt said investigators have not established a motive for the blast.
Federal court documents show that Krajnyak and her estranged husband, Ronilo Vestil, filed for bankruptcy protection in 2014, stating in part that their home was “scheduled to be sold through foreclosure” in December of that year. The couple filed paperwork in January asking for dismissal of the case, and it was officially closed on Monday.
Neighbors said Krajnyak and her husband were separated but were still living together in the Trabuco Canyon home, along with Krajnyak’s mother, for whom she was caring.
According to Orange County court records, Krajnyak was also involved in a long-running dispute with a former tenant at a property in Rancho Santa Margarita.
Krajnyak moved to have the tenant, Gary Barney, evicted from the property in 2010, claiming he owed $8,800 in back rent.
Krajnyak won a judgment against Barney in November 2010, but was still working to collect a total $23,034 from him as recently as January of this year, records show. The additional money included expenses and interest.