Teacher Held on $1M Bail in His Wife's Stabbing Death

A teacher at Tarzana's Nestle Avenue Charter Elementary who was hunted in the stabbing death of his estranged wife at a West Hills home was being held Monday on more than $1-million bail.

He was captured in San Bernardino County.

Michael Rodney Kane, 46, is accused of going to a home in the 7100 block of Deveron Ridge Road around 8 a.m. Saturday, wounding a friend who tried to protect Michelle Kane, then chasing her outside and stabbing her multiple times, according to Lt. Warren Jones of the Los Angeles Police Department's Topanga Station.

The 43-year-old woman was pronounced dead at the scene. Her two children -- believed to be Kane's -- were inside the home.

Kane's abandoned vehicle was spotted by San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies in the Joshua Tree area, prompting investigators to search the home of one of the suspect's relatives in the area, police said. Kane wasn't at the home, so they began a search of area motels, including the one where he was found after officers kicked down the door of his room, police said.

Kane was suffering from numerous cuts and puncture wounds sustained prior to his arrest, prompting police to take him to a hospital. He was then brought back to Los Angeles and eventually booked into the Men's Central Jail on suspicion of murder. He was being held on more than $1 million bail.

The couple were in the midst of a bitter divorce, prompting Michelle Kane to obtain a restraining order against her estranged husband.

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"We advised Ms. Kane to take all necessary precautions available to her with regard to the restraining order we were able to obtain on her behalf, which she took," Michelle Kane's divorce attorney, Steve Mindel said. "In fact, she went to the police station Friday, twice, and later called again to seek assistance from what she considered an imminent threat to her life and the lives of her children."

LAPD Sgt. Al Flores told the Los Angeles Times that when the victim spoke to police Friday, she reported that her estranged husband had vandalized the home they once shared and had violated the restraining order.

The suspect is an elementary teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing website noted he has a multiple-subject teaching credential and is listed as being in good standing until Dec. 1, 2017. He has been a credentialed teacher since June 5, 1998.

Kane started as a substitute teacher in the LAUSD in 1997, followed by three permanent teaching assignments, the latest at Nestle Avenue Charter Elementary, in Tarzana, according to the Los Angeles Daily News. Records show no disciplinary action, according to the newspaper.

-- City News Service