A couple have told how fugitive killer Christopher Dorner tied them up in their mountain apartment and stole their car before the shootout that led to his presumed death.
Karen and Jim Reynolds told a news conference that Dorner had a gun but said he would not hurt them. The couple said he tied their arms and put pillowcases over their heads before fleeing in their car.
Ms Reynolds managed to get to her mobile phone and dialled emergency services from the property in the San Bernardino Mountains, 80 miles east of Los Angeles.
They came upon Dorner when they entered their property on Tuesday, and believe he had been there as early as Friday.
Earlier another man told how America’s most wanted man hijacked him on a rural mountain road.
Clad in camouflage and wearing a bulletproof vest packed with ammunition, ex-policeman-turned quadruple killer Dorner was just feet away, having emerged from a grove of trees holding a large assault rifle.
As teams of officers who had sought the fugitive for a week were closing in, Dorner pointed the gun at ranger Rick Heltebrake and ordered him out of his truck.
“I don’t want to hurt you. Start walking and take your dog,” Mr Heltebrake recalled Dorner saying during the carjacking on Tuesday.
The man got into the pick-up truck and drove away and Mr Heltebrake called police when he heard a volley of gunfire erupt soon after, then hid behind a tree.
A short time later, police caught up with the man they believe was Dorner, surrounding a cabin where he had taken refuge after crashing Mr Heltebrake’s truck.
A gunfight followed in which one sheriff’s deputy was killed and another wounded. After the shooting ended, a SWAT team using an armoured vehicle broke out the cabin’s windows and began knocking down walls. A fire started and later charred remains believed to be Dorner’s were found.
A wallet and personal items, including a California driving licence with the name Christopher Dorner, were found in the cabin debris, an official said.