A Southern California man was accused of murder and other crimes after authorities said Monday that he killed two men whom he’d met on a dating app.
Rockim Prowell, 34, was also accused of attempted murder in connection with a brutal assault on a third person, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
“Imagine the terror and horror these victims felt after being duped into believing they were meeting for one reason, only to face inexplicable violence,” DA Nathan Hochman said in a statement included in the release.
Prowell was expected to be arraigned Monday on charges of murder, attempted murder, carjacking, burglary and assault with a deadly weapon.
It was not immediately clear whether he has a lawyer to speak on his behalf.
Two of the alleged victims were identified as Miguel Angel King, 51, and Robert Gutierrez, 53. Both men met Prowell on the same dating site, the prosecutor’s office said.
Prowell is accused of fatally shooting King and stealing his car after they met up on July 20, 2021, according to the release.
King’s remains were found in Angeles National Forest, north of downtown Los Angeles, nearly a month later. Forensic evidence found in King’s vehicle is linked to Prowell, the release said.
Gutierrez disappeared after having agreed to meet Prowell on Aug. 21, 2023, according to the release. He has not been found, but when authorities arrested Prowell last week, Gutierrez’s car was in Prowell’s garage, the release said.
A third man who met Prowell through the same dating site this year was bound, robbed and beaten with a baseball bat, the prosecutor’s office said.
“The victim managed to escape but Prowell chased the man in a vehicle, striking him and breaking his leg,” the release said.
At the time of his arrest, Prowell was on probation for a series of burglaries in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles in 2019 and 2021, according to the prosecutor’s office. Beverly Hills police in 2021 had released pictures of Prowell wearing a mask.
