2 Lawyers Found Shot To Death

Two South Park men, both attorneys, were found dead yesterday afternoon, apparently shot to death, in separate rooms of the two-story home they shared.

The victims were identified by the King County medical examiner's office as Eric A. Hoyer, 34, and Steven M. Dorobis, about 36.

A King County Police spokesman said the deaths were being investigated as homicides. Autopsies were scheduled today.

Hoyer was a partner in the law firm of Kane, Hoyer and Friedman in the Lyon Building downtown. Dorobis was in practice with another attorney in the Smith Tower. The medical examiner said Hoyer's parents are Mr. and Mrs. August Hoyer of Penfield, N.Y.

A neighbor who had gone to the house at 1207 S. Southern St. - in the industrial area just south of the Seattle city limits and a few hundred yards from the Duwamish River - found the front door ajar and discovered the bodies about 3 p.m., said county police spokesman Cecil Ray.

The first officers to arrive at the scene confirmed the deaths with paramedics, then called for detectives, Ray said. He said police obtained a search warrant to re-enter the home.

Capt. T. Michael Nault, major-crimes commander, said there were no signs of forced entry.

He said one man was found in a dining area; the other was in a rear bedroom. At least one of the men was in nightclothes, he said.

Nault said neighbors reported seeing the men alive about 9 p.m. Sunday. They had been working for several months to fix up the home and had been seen painting inside, a neighbor said.

Nault said a light blue Mercedes-Benz belonging to one of the men was found inside a detached garage. A black BMW owned by the other man was in a repair shop.

Hoyer's law partner, Peter Friedman, was puzzled about any possible motive for the slayings.

``I know both of them pretty well,'' Friedman said today. He discounted drugs as playing a part in the killings.

Asked about possible enemies, Friedman said all lawyers have disgruntled clients, but he could not think of anyone that angry.

Hoyer, Dorobis and Friedman were classmates at the University of Puget Sound Law School, where Hoyer excelled and was chosen to work on the school's prestigious Law Review, Friedman said.

Friedman said it was ``kind of a fluke'' that Hoyer ended up buying the South Park house. He had been retained by a neighbor in a dispute involving a tree growing near a fence. In talking to the owner of the tree, he learned the man wanted to sell. Hoyer bought the house and planned to fix it up in his spare time and eventually sell it, Friedman said.

Dorobis began renting a room from Hoyer about a year ago, Friedman said.

Dorobis' older sister, Candace Conway, of Seattle, said her brother ``loved being a trial lawyer. . . . He and Eric were best friends.

``I don't know of any enemies of Steven. He had a wonderful sense of humor. He had a lot of friends, . . . put himself out a lot for his friends.''

Theirs was a close-knit family, centered around a retreat, a house in Roslyn, Kittitas County, where they could go cross-country skiing or hiking, Conway said.

``That's where he's going to be buried,'' Conway said.

``I think they were robbed,'' she said. `` . . . I think somebody didn't think they were home.''

Besides Conway, Dorobis is survived by another sister, Judith Canatsey of Seattle, and his mother, Carolyn Dorobis, of Yakima.

Neighbors described the men as friendly neighbors who had added new vitality to the close-knit neighborhood since Hoyer bought the home, a one-time drug house, more than a year ago.

``They were very, very nice guys, great neighbors,'' said next-door neighbor Linda Williams. ``Everybody in the neighborhood liked them.''

Williams said Dorobis had moved into the house about a month after Hoyer bought it.

``This is a total, total shock,'' she said.

``I'd stop by and say `Hi' to them every now and then,'' added Williams' young son, Bryson Childs.

Neighbors apparently did not notice any strange activity at the home or hear any shots, Nault said. He said the industrial area was commonly quite noisy with boat and air traffic.

``I'm still in shock,'' said nearby neighbor Jean Wolfe, standing a few hundred yards away and crying as detectives entered the house.

``They were beautiful people,'' Wolfe said. ``We had outdoor barbecues together, a lot of over-the-fence conversations, and the whole bit. They were friends with the whole neighborhood.''

-- Times staff reporters Dave Birkland and Constantine Angelos contributed to this report.