Tennis Coach’s Death Is Ruled a Suicide

STUDIO CITY —  The death of a former tennis coach whose charred body was found in the Mojave Desert three months ago, has been ruled a suicide, authorities said.

Richard Kinuya, 43, of Studio City, a former coach at Harvard-Westlake School, died of severe burns, said Duane Hamrick, supervising deputy coroner for San Bernardino County.

Hamrick said it appeared that Kinuya sat on the passenger side of his 1982 Nissan 280Z, sprayed the inside of the car with an accelerant and then lit a match or ignited a lighter. The car exploded, throwing glass 30 feet from the car.

The cause of death was determined on May 12, after authorities received toxicology reports and the results of microscopic tissue samples.

The car was found Feb. 4 in the desert about 10 miles north of Baker off California 127. It was spotted by a Bureau of Land Management ranger on patrol in the area.

Hamrick said many indicators pointed to suicide, including the single set of footprints around the car. There were no wounds or injuries on Kinuya’s body that might signify foul play, Hamrick said.

Kinuya had been the girls’ tennis team coach for four seasons at Harvard-Westlake School in Studio City when he abruptly resigned in January 1997. Before that, he taught at Campbell Hall School in North Hollywood.

Kinuya was adult league coordinator for the Westwood-based Southern California Tennis Assn., the local arm of the United States Tennis Assn., which oversees tennis tournament play in the area. He also was a teaching pro at the Racquet Centre of Universal City.