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Suspect Named In Valley Village Bride-To-Be's Murder

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Authorities say they know who murdered a Valley Village bride-to-be, then set her house on fire.

LAPD officials and City Councilman Paul Krekorian named 34-year-old transient Omar Armando Loera in the murder of 34-year-old Cheree Ozmanhodzic, who was found July 24 after firefighters put out a fire that had been started in her house. Her fiancé, Adam Culvey, had just chased off a man and returned to see the house on fire.

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Loera, a parolee who also goes by Arturo Benitez and Taz, has black hair and brown eyes, is 5-foot-9 and is 179 pounds. He has tattoos of Aztec women on both shoulders.

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Upon hearing the date of his birthday at the news conference, Ozmanhodzic's mother broke into tears and sobbed that Loera's birthday was the same day as Ozmanhodzic's.

The fire was started in Ozmanhodzic's room, according to authorities, but her official cause of death was not announced.

If you have any information please contact the North Hollywood Police Department at (818) 623-4016.

(©2010 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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