Man plagued by prostate problems allegedly guns down urologist

Orange County Sheriff's Dept. via AP

Stanwood Fred Elkus, 75, of Lake Elsinore who was arrested Monday, Jan. 28, suspected of killing Dr. Ronald Franklin Gilbert, 52, of Huntington Beach at the medical office in Orange County on Jan. 28.

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By Gillian Flaccus and Robert Jablon, Associated Press

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. ?-- A retired barber accused of shooting a California urologist to death in his Newport Beach exam room was charged Wednesday with murder.

Calif. DMV via AP

Ronald Franklin Gilbert, 52, of Huntington Beach, Calif., who was allegedly shot and killed by a 75-year-old retired barber, Stanwood Fred Elkus, on Jan. 28, at his office in Newport Beach, Calif.

It's unclear if Dr. Ronald Franklin Gilbert, the 52-year-old victim of Monday's shooting, was the physician who treated Stanwood Fred Elkus, 75, for prostate problems. Neighbors said Elkus was angry about his incontinence following a recent surgery.

He was jailed on $1 million bail after police say Elkus shot Gilbert multiple times Monday in the affluent coastal city in suburban Orange County.

Elkus, of Lake Elsinore, was charged with one felony count of special circumstances murder by lying in wait, NBCLosAngeles.com reported. Arraignment is scheduled for Wednesday in a Santa Ana courtroom.

If convicted, he faces a minimum sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole.

The urologist appeared to be the only target of the attack, police spokeswoman Kathy Lowe said.

Elkus was plagued by prostate troubles and was upset by a surgery that left him running to the bathroom constantly, sometimes in mid-conversation, neighbors said.

"One day we were talking about other things outside and he says, 'Oh hold it right there!' and he was rushing to his house and when he came back, he said, 'I have a problem with my prostate,'" recalled Miguel Soto, who lives across the street.

"He said, 'I had surgery and now I am worse than before the surgery.'"

Soto said Elkus never named his doctor, and Soto did not know if it was Gilbert.

A few weeks ago, Elkus said he would be away from home because he was checking into a hospital again, but when Soto saw him last week, he didn't mention his health, the neighbor said.

Another neighbor, James Lord, said Elkus mentioned Sunday that "he wasn't going to be around much longer."

"I told him, 'No Stan, you're gonna outlive me,'" Lord said.

Elkus handed the weapon to a staff member before surrendering to officers, according to the district attorney.

Detectives found additional evidence at Elkus' home in Lake Elsinore, but police declined to provide details.

Gilbert worked in general urology, sexual dysfunction and related surgical techniques, including vasectomies, bladder and prostate cancer, according to his biography on the website of the Orange Coast Urology Group, which he joined in 1993.

One of his specialties involved using a laser to vaporize prostate tissue blocking the urinary tract.

He decided to become a doctor mainly because his late father was a doctor, the biography said, adding that Gilbert had been a stockbroker and a singer in a rock band. He had worked for 20 years at Hoag Hospital and was its former urology chief.

Copyright Associated Press / NBC Los Angeles

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Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/30/16772661-man-plagued-by-prostate-problems-allegedly-guns-down-urologist?lite

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