LAPD Closes Boardwalk to Investigate Scene of August's Deadly Rampage

A section of the Venice Boardwalk was closed Wednesday while investigators re-examined the scene where a man allegedly steered his car intentionally into crowds of people this summer, killing a honeymooning Italian woman and injuring several other beachgoers.

Nathan Louis Campbell, 38, has been charged with murder and other felonies stemming from the Aug. 3 rampage. Campbell surrendered to police about two hours after the melee.

Campbell is suspected of purposely aiming a car at groups of people as he sped south down the Venice Boardwalk from Dudley Avenue to near Sunset Avenue, causing chaos and panic at one of L.A.'s biggest tourist magnets.

That section of the boardwalk was closed Wednesday morning by Los Angeles Police Department investigators. Police would not immediately confirm the purpose of the closure, but the website Venice311 reported from the scene that investigators had closed the area "to recreate the deadly path of Nathan Campbell."

Police tape was strung around the affected area, and an LAPD SUV was parked on the boardwalk.

Killed in the August melee was 32-year-old Alice Gruppioni, who was visiting Venice on her honeymoon. Her husband of two weeks, Christian Casadei, suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

The coroner's office determined the woman died of blunt-force trauma to the head and neck, and her death was classified as a homicide.

The Italian newspaper La Republicca reported that Gruppioni ran a family business in her hometown, Rastignano, near Bologna. She was the daughter of prominent businessman Valerio Gruppioni, former president of the Bologna soccer team, La Republicca reported.

Witnesses said the driver of the car seemed to purposely aim at pedestrians as he swerved along the popular Ocean Front Walk.

The driver abandoned the car at Ocean Park Boulevard and Beverly Avenue in Santa Monica, about two miles away. A couple of hours later, Campbell turned himself in at a Santa Monica police station, where he was questioned by Los Angeles police detectives and later arrested.