TORRANCE (AP) —  A law enforcement official says a Southern California restaurant owner has told detectives that he killed his wife.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s Lt. Dave Coleman said Wednesday that David Viens, who is recovering in the hospital after he jumped off a cliff, gave a statement in which he said he was solely responsible for his wife’s death.

Coleman says Viens did not say what happened to his wife’s body but coroner’s officials are tearing up the concrete floors in his Torrance restaurant after a cadaver-sniffing dog indicated there may be a body there.

Viens jumped off a Rancho Palos Verdes cliff a week ago. He had read a newspaper report saying he was a suspect in his wife’s disappearance and likely homicide.

His wife, Dawn Viens, disappeared in October 2009.

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