Mixed Martial Arts Fighter, Wife Found Dead in Bed

Dec. 18, 2008— -- In the arena of mixed martial arts, Justin Levens was known as the "Executioner," a fighter who took on some of the sport's fiercest competitors.

Now friends, fellow fighters and police are left wondering what happened after the bodies of Levens, 28, and wife Sarah McLean-Levens, 25, were found yesterday in their California home in what police say is an apparent murder-suicide.

Orange County Sheriff's Department spokesman Jim Amormino told ABCNews.com today that officers were called to Levens' condo in an upscale Laguna Niguel neighborhood around 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday after McLean-Levens' mother found the couple dead in bed.

Both were found with a single gunshot wound to the head and while it's still an "active investigation," Amormino said, police believe Levens is the likely shooter.

Amormino said police were unsure how long the couple had been dead, but "it appeared at least a couple of days."

Autopsies were scheduled for today and police will also conduct ballistics and residue testing.

Levens fought with several professional mixed martial arts organizations, including the high-profile Ultimate Fighting Championship, Palace Fighting Championship and the International Fight Leagues.

He burst onto the scene, winning his first seven fights in a row. But he had lost his last five, with his last fight coming in October 2007.

Tom Atencio, vice president of Affliction, a young California-based mixed martial arts organization, said Levens was one of his best friends.

The two met about five years ago while training together. Levens, he said, spoke of a hard life growing up in the Philadelphia projects and leaving home as a teenager. But Levens never offered much detail about his troubled childhood, and Atencio said he didn't push.

"He was a tough kid," he said. "He had a hard life."

And mixed martial arts, he said, "was the one thing he was good at."

Atencio said Levens was a well-liked, aggressive fighter.

"He fought mostly with instincts," he said. In those first seven wins, he pounded his competitors into submission, with none of the fights ever going past the first round.

Atencio said his friend had been let down by nearly everyone in his life and had trust issues. He married McLean-Levens earlier this year in Las Vegas.

Atencio said he couldn't even comprehend that his friend was being suspected in a possible murder-suicide.

"Whatever they find is whatever they find," he said. "Anybody that grew up the way Justin grew up, you can't fault."