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Award-winning “American Idol” executive Robin Kaye and her husband, Thomas Deluca, have reportedly been found dead inside their $5 million Encino home after falling victim to what authorities believe is a double homicide.
Kaye, 70, who served as the music supervisor on the hit talent show, and Deluca, 70, are understood to have been shot to death inside the dwelling, as first reported by TMZ.
According to the outlet, officers from the Los Angeles Police Department were called to the property for a welfare check on July 14—only to discover the bodies of the couple when they arrived.
Both Kaye and Deluca were reportedly found to be suffering from gunshot wounds and were declared dead at the scene.
TMZ’s “law enforcement sources” said that officers first found blood at the front entrance of the home and then discovered that a window had been smashed in an apparent attempt to gain access to the inside of the property.
(Realtor.com)
It’s understood that the welfare check was requested by family friends of the couple, who said that the duo had not been heard from for four days.
Those same sources also alleged that police had previously been called to the home on July 10, when “an unidentified suspect was seen trying to gain entry” to the property, with the insiders adding that the so-called suspect “may have been armed with a firearm.”
Officers are said to have been alerted to the potential break-in by neighbors, who reported that a person was seen attempting to climb the fence surrounding Kaye and Deluca’s dwelling.
Video footage aired by KTLA—which did not name the victims—shows the couple’s home secured with red police tape, with the station saying that officers arrived on the scene shortly after 2:30 p.m. local time.
At the time of writing, no suspects have been named, nor has any description been released by authorities.
The couple purchased the six-bedroom, six-bathroom dwelling for $4.5 million in 2023, according to property records seen by Realtor.com.
Kaye, who began her career in Nashville, per her IMDB page, worked as a music supervisor on the hit talent show “American Idol” for more than 20 years between 2002 and 2023.
She also boasted a number of other impressive screen credits, having worked on several major productions, including the Miss Universe contest in 2019 and the NAACP Image Awards for several years.
Kaye earned wide recognition for her work behind the scenes on these kinds of projects, including several Guild of Music Supervisors awards for her contributions to “American Idol.”
In 2019, she was named by Variety as one of several “music supervisors to watch,” with the outlet calling attention to her “tireless” efforts behind the scenes of so many shows.
The publication also shared a quote from Kaye about her work, in which she opened up about the less-than-glamorous aspects of her job.
“The general public assumes that music supervision is a glamorous and exciting job—being paid to work with one of everyone’s favorite pastimes, music,” she said.
“[But] in most films and scripted television … the music is usually the very last thing that happens, and sometimes there is not enough budget left to fill all the music needs. Music supervisors are often expected to work fast and pull miracles creatively and financially to complete the project.”
Realtor.com® has contacted the Los Angeles Police Department for comment.