A.V. WOMAN CHARGED IN MAN'S KILLING BOYFRIEND'S FOOT FOUND STICKING OUT OF MAKESHIFT GRAVE.

Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer

LANCASTER - A 23-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of shooting to death her ex-convict boyfriend at the abandoned house where they were living and burying his body in a shallow grave that was found Sunday.

Investigators said the pair had been involved in some kind of argument and that Theresa Kariger shot Jeffrey Segale, 37, then buried him in a shallow grave on the trash-strewn property within sight of Fox Field and left.

``It's really a sad thing that these two ended up like this,'' said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department homicide Lt. Dan Rosenberg. ``It appears that these two had a stormy relationship and that the victim was physically abusive. That's what appears to have led to all this.''

Kariger is being held at the Lancaster sheriff's station in lieu of $1 million bail on a murder charge.

The sheriff's station received a telephone call Sunday morning by someone saying that a death had occurred at the property on Avenue F west of 40th Street West. When deputies arrived, they found two dilapidated houses surrounded by trash and junk, plus a shallow grave with a foot sticking out of it.

Coroner's investigators exhumed the body and on Tuesday identified it as Segale's.

Sheriff's investigators said they found evidence of illegal drug use on the property.

Segale had served two short prison sentences in the 1990s for drug possession, state prison records show.

Sheriff's records show Kariger had been arrested in April on suspicion of vandalism causing more than $5,000 damage and was released three days later.

Eight days after her release, she and Segale were arrested by Lancaster deputies on suspicion of being under the influence of drugs. He was released from jail that night and she was released the next morning.

When she was picked up Sunday, she was wanted on a warrant for failure to appear in court.