Judith Barsi

When Judith Barsi prepared to leave Los Angeles for the Bahamas to film "Jaws The Revenge" last year, her father pulled a knife and bade her goodby. "If you decide not to come back, I will cut your throat," he said, according to a relative.

On July 27, when pictures of a smiling, 11-year-old Judith Barsi were shown on the 11 o'clock news, the last thing I expected to hear about the talented young actress was that she'd been murdered. Judith's mother, Maria, told me her husband had threatened to burn the house down, but she never confided, nor did I ever suspect, he might kill his wife and child.

On July 27, when pictures of a smiling, 11-year-old Judith Barsi were shown on the 11 o'clock news, the last thing I expected to hear about the talented young actress was that she'd been murdered. Judith's mother, Maria, told me her husband had threatened to burn the house down, but she never confided, nor did I ever suspect, he might kill his wife and child.

An overburdened Los Angeles County Department of Children's Services prematurely dropped its investigation into threats of violence in the family of Judith Barsi, a 10-year-old actress later slain by her father, a county advisory panel said Tuesday.

A child actress whose credits included the film "Jaws IV: The Revenge" was believed to have died with her mother Wednesday in an apparent murder-suicide initiated by her father, who set fire to the family's San Fernando Valley home before taking his own life, authorities said. The bodies were found in the heavily damaged West Hills home of Jozsef and Maria Barsi, whose only child, Judith, 11, had also appeared in numerous television shows and about 50 commercials, officials said.

An overburdened Los Angeles County Department of Children's Services prematurely dropped its investigation into threats of violence in the family of Judith Barsi, a 10-year-old actress later slain by her father, a county advisory panel said Tuesday.

An overburdened Los Angeles County Department of Children's Services prematurely dropped its investigation into threats of violence in the family of Judith Barsi, the 10-year-old actress later slain by her father in July in West Hills, a county advisory panel said Tuesday.

A watchdog agency went to court Tuesday to force the Los Angeles County Department of Children's Services to open its child-abuse files on Judith Barsi, the 10-year-old actress who was killed by her father last month. Judith and her mother, Maria Barsi, were shot and killed in their West Hills home, a day or two before July 27, by Jozsef Barsi, who set the house on fire and shot himself.

A judge has ordered Los Angeles County to open its child-abuse files on Judith Barsi, the child actress who was killed by her father last month. Judge Kathryn Doi Todd of Juvenile Dependency Court said she found "good cause" for allowing a watchdog agency to review the way the county Department of Children's Services handled the Barsi case, which ended in the shooting deaths of the mother and daughter a day or two before July 27.

A woman and child found dead in a murder-suicide in a West Hills home Wednesday have been identified as child-actress Judith Barsi and her mother, the Los Angeles County coroner's office said Thursday. The father, Jozsef Barsi, 55, fatally shot himself in the garage after shooting his wife and 11-year-old daughter once in the head, dousing them with gasoline and setting them and the house afire, Los Angeles police said.

An overburdened Los Angeles County Department of Children's Services prematurely dropped its investigation into threats of violence in the family of Judith Barsi, the 10-year-old actress later slain by her father in July in West Hills, a county advisory panel said Tuesday.

A judge has ordered Los Angeles County to open its child-abuse files on Judith Barsi, the child actress who was killed by her father last month. Judge Kathryn Doi Todd of Juvenile Dependency Court said she found "good cause" for allowing a watchdog agency to review the way the county Department of Children's Services handled the Barsi case, which ended in the shooting deaths of the mother and daughter a day or two before July 27.

A watchdog agency went to court Tuesday to force the Los Angeles County Department of Children's Services to open its child-abuse files on Judith Barsi, the 10-year-old actress who was killed by her father last month. Judith and her mother, Maria Barsi, were shot and killed in their West Hills home, a day or two before July 27, by Jozsef Barsi, who set the house on fire and shot himself.

When Judith Barsi prepared to leave Los Angeles for the Bahamas to film "Jaws The Revenge" last year, her father pulled a knife and bade her goodby. "If you decide not to come back, I will cut your throat," he said, according to a relative.

A child actress whose credits included the film "Jaws IV: The Revenge" was believed to have died with her mother Wednesday in an apparent murder-suicide initiated by her father, who set fire to the family's San Fernando Valley home before taking his own life, authorities said. The bodies were found in the heavily damaged West Hills home of Jozsef and Maria Barsi, whose only child, Judith, 11, had also appeared in numerous television shows and about 50 commercials, officials said.

An independent review board should be created to monitor the handling of child-welfare cases by Los Angeles County authorities, according to an advisory panel studying the case of 10-year-old child actress Judith Barsi of West Hills, who was killed last summer by her father. The Commission for Children's Services sent a three-page letter to the Board of Supervisors outlining its recommendations. The commission is expected to discuss the ideas in detail Monday.