Man charged with murder after three were found dead in a house fire in Temple City

LOS ANGELES – A 64-year-old man arrested in connection with the deaths of three people whose bodies were found after a fire in a Temple city house was accused of three murders.

Xuanhan Zhang was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday at the downtown Los Angeles courthouse on charges of murder, along with two counts of attempted murder, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said.

According to the Los Angeles County Fire Department, the fire was reported Sunday around 4:50 p.m. in the 6000 block of Sultana Avenue, just east of Rosemead Boulevard.

The fire was extinguished within half an hour.

The bodies of two men and a woman were found in the home. Their identities have not been released.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: 3 dead, 2 injured in Temple City house fire; arson suspect in custody

Two other residents were outside the home with serious burns.

There are four homes on the property, the other three are unaffected.

Shortly before 8 p.m. Sunday, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced that the deaths were being investigated as possible homicides.

Sheriff’s Lt. Hugo Reynaga told reporters at the scene on Sunday that a roommate of the deceased victims approached emergency services at the scene and was subsequently detained as a person of interest. He was later identified as Zhang.

According to jail records, Zhang has been behind bars since his arrest at 1 a.m. Monday.