Pastorelli suspected of killing live-in

HOLLYWOOD, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Actor Robert Pastorelli knew police suspected he killed his girlfriend at their Los Angeles home in 1999, Inside Edition reports Tuesday.

Pastorelli, best known as the quirky painter on TV's "Murphy Brown," was on the verge of being charged with murder in the death of Charemon Jonovich when he died of a heroin overdose in March 2004. He was 49.

Police first thought the March 15, 1999, shooting death of Jonovich was a suicide, but they developed new evidence in the case and last year switched the cause of death to murder.

Pastorelli had told police he and Jonovich, 25, were arguing when she pointed the gun at herself and pulled the trigger, not knowing it was loaded. Friends said Pastorelli was so badly shaken, he put his career on hold and spent nearly a year in seclusion, interacting only with the daughter he had with Jonovich.

Los Angeles police did not comment on the Inside Edition report.