Murdered American Idol Exec Was Frightened, Met with LAPD the Day Before Deadly Break-In (Exclusive) By Danielle Bacher

On July 10, a sun-drenched morning in Los Angeles, Robin Kaye, a longtime music supervisor for American Idol, and her husband, rock guitarist and singer Thomas Deluca, both 70, began their day like any other. They chatted over lattes in the airy kitchen of their home in Encino and fed their beloved pets: Jojo, a Chihuahua greyhound rescue; Bogey, an African gray parrot; and TurtleJoe, a large tortoise that spends its days roaming in the garden of the couple’s $4.5 million hillside property.

Later that afternoon, though, after Kaye and Deluca made a grocery run, the couple’s quiet routine was shattered forever. When they returned to their house, they encountered a stranger who police say had entered through an unlocked door, while the alarms were off and they were out. Within an hour, Kaye and Deluca were dead — shot in the head multiple times and killed by the alleged intruder, who used the couple’s own gun, according to the police and district attorney.

Yet despite two 911 calls that day and multiple police visits to the home, it wasn’t until four days later — after a welfare-check request made by a friend of Kaye’s — that authorities found the couple’s bodies on July 14 and launched an investigation. The Los Angeles Medical Examiner told PEOPLE their time of death was recorded at 4:14 p.m. that day. Already reeling from the loss of the popular couple, neighbors in their affluent community, which has seen an uptick in crime recently, demanded answers.

The following day, on July 15, police arrested a shirtless suspect, 22-year-old Raymond Boodarian, outside his townhouse in Reseda. Los Angeles Police Department investigators believe Boodarian entered the couple’s home to commit a burglary that turned deadly when Kaye and Deluca returned home. Two days later, Boodarian was charged with two counts of murder, as well as one count of residential burglary. He has not yet entered pleas to the charges.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced the couple was shot with their own gun. The details of the killings were revealed during a town hall meeting in Encino on July 21, where hundreds of residents gathered to express frustration about crime in the area.

Speaking to the crowd on the night of Monday, July 28, Hochman said the couple’s killings felt personal to him as a lifelong Angeleno. “The government owes you one thing, and that’s safety,” he said. He emphasized that Kaye and Deluca were denied that basic promise — and that the system failed them.

“The brutal and heartbreaking murder of Robin Kaye and Thomas Deluca has shaken their Encino community,” Hochman told PEOPLE exclusively. “My heart goes out to the victims’ loved ones as they endure an unimaginable loss,”

“I am steadfast in my commitment to keep our communities safe and hold those who commit violent offenses accountable for their actions,” Hochman continued. “We will prosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law to deliver justice for the victims and their families.”

The couple met at a concert in 1983. Kaye, originally from Chicago, was working for country star Waylon Jennings in Nashville at the time and Deluca was a rock musician. They were known for their talent and loyalty. Kaye began as a music supervisor on American Idol in 2009 and spent 16 years curating songs that were sung by contestants, while also shaping the sound of Lip Sync Battle and the Miss Universe pageant. She died still employed by American Idol.

“Robin was truly loved and respected by all,” said an Idol spokesperson. Former Judge Randy Jackson called her “one of a kind” and described Kaye as “a dear friend” on Instagram. He said, “Robin consistently went the extra mile, meticulously ensuring songs were placed and cleared for the show. Forever loved and deeply appreciated.”

Kaye’s longtime friend Juanita Metzgar, 72, says she was devastated when she heard the news of their death. “I still feel numb and pretty much destroyed,” she told PEOPLE. “I’ve lost my best friend and my confidant of [47 years]. It doesn’t seem real. I can’t imagine a world without Robin,” she continues. “There’s no getting over that anytime soon.”

Deluca, a soulful guitarist, singer and producer, spent years performing with Nashville bands like the Piggies and working with icons including Fleetwood Mac’s Bob Welch and Aerosmith’s Joe Perry. “They really took care of each other,” says longtime friend and bandmate Ronnie Brooks, 73, who recalls how the couple’s pet parrot often chirped, “Mommy’s home” when Kaye walked through the door.

Now the silence lingers at home and across the entertainment world. “It’s so sad he doesn’t have his parents anymore,” says Brooks. “They will be deeply missed.” According to sources close to the couple, all three pets are being taken care of by family members in Los Angeles.

When Deluca’s band broke up in the mid-1980s, the couple moved to Los Angeles. They were married shortly afterward. When they purchased their six-bedroom home in Encino in 2023, security was a concern: The property is surrounded by an eight-foot wall with metal spikes on the gates.

After a previous attempted burglary in May 2024, in which two suspects fled the scene before Kaye and Deluca could call for help, Kaye contacted private security consultant Kris Herzog, a former police officer and celebrity bodyguard earlier this year, to discuss safety measures. Although she did not ultimately hire him, Herzog recalls telling Kaye that “cameras won’t save your life” after she revealed she had experienced an attempted burglary.

Just one day before the July 10 break-in, Josh Sautter, president of the Encino Neighborhood Council, says Kaye and Deluca attended a Community Police Advisory Board meeting. The gathering featured remarks from LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, who addressed the alarming uptick in local break-ins and recent rash of crimes. Officers at the meeting offered pointed advice on how residents could better protect themselves in the wake of the surge.

It wasn’t the first time the crime wave had drawn Kaye’s attention; according to Sautter Kaye was a caring and compassionate resident who regularly attended meetings and was looking for solutions. On June 25, less than a month before the attack, she spoke at another neighborhood council meeting on Zoom, sharing her own harrowing experience.

“Just a few weeks ago,” Kaye said, “We had our own home invasion — as we were sleeping. They broke in, climbed our wall, smashed through our kitchen door… it was scary.”

The mounting anxiety wasn’t limited to her own home. According to sources close to the family, Kaye had long expressed concern about a next-door neighbor, a man who became a point of suspicion in the immediate aftermath of the July 10 murders. Though ultimately cleared, his reputation for hosting raucous, late-night parties had unnerved Kaye for years.

“We have a guy next door that in the summer — he rents out the house to branding, to companies, they pay him a lot of money, and he has hundreds of people. They had gun checks, they bust people in,” Kaye said in the same meeting. “There’s a lot of shady people that show up that are kind of scary,” she continued.

“They are all over the streets. They leave garbage everywhere, and it’s you know you can’t be outside. You can’t even hear in your own home. It’s so loud, and all the neighbors around here are having the same… you know, are just as concerned about it. He’s been arrested many times for other things and he’s a scary guy. We’re not sure what to do. It’s been a problem for all of us. I think these parties houses are bringing a lot of attention to the neighborhood and bringing in a lot of crime.”

Eventually, a public safety representative reached out to the LAPD and government officials to deal with the disturbance. A subsequent lawsuit was eventually filed against the neighbor.

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Still, tragedy unfolded for Kaye and Deluca the following day when, at 4:10 p.m., a neighbor called 911 after seeing a man scaling the wall outside the couple’s house. A police helicopter flew over the property but, spotting no signs of trouble, left after two minutes. Some 40 minutes later, a second 911 call was placed, this time from inside the home’s office.

The caller identified himself as the resident and reported a break-in. Moments later, the operator heard him plead, “Please don’t shoot me” before the line went dead. Authorities later identified the caller as the suspect, who had given his real name.

Again, a police helicopter scanned the scene but detected nothing and left shortly after 5 p.m. By then, investigators now believe, Boodarian had used a firearm he found to fatally shoot Kaye and Deluca in separate rooms of the house. According to police sources, Kaye was found in the pantry as she put away groceries, while her husband was found in the bathroom.

Four days later, while performing the wellness check, officers “were in the yard of the residence when they observed some signs of trouble,” says LAPD Lt. Guy Golan. “They breached one of the glass windows, went inside the residence, and found both of the victims deceased.”

Angry neighbors claim that this is the third time in recent months that police responded to a call in the San Fernando Valley, left without entering and later returned to find a murder scene. But security consultant Herzog cites a police policy that bars officers from entering private property without clear probable cause “like a bloody shoe print, O.J. Simpson heading into the house from the street — I mean a ridiculous amount,” he claimed to PEOPLE.

“Their policies are 99% geared towards cover your a– and 1% toward public safety. They’re worried about getting sued and bad publicity. They are critically, dangerously underfunded. They don’t have the manpower.” The LAPD declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation. Arrested within 24 hours of the discovery of the bodies and charged on July 17, Boodarian is being held without bond. His arraignment is scheduled for Aug. 20.

“We must understand how this tragedy occurred. We must look into, analyze and shine a bright spotlight on any potential gaps in our mental health system and the lack of resources for public safety that played a part in this awful tragedy,” District Attorney Hochman tells PEOPLE.

“New York City has 36,000 officers; Los Angeles has less than 8,700,” he continues. “Los Angeles residents deserve not only to feel, but actually to be safe inside and outside their homes. I have made it my mission every day to turn that vision into reality.”