This comes from our sister paper in Northern California, the San Jose Mercury. I'm posting a link here because there is a Duarte connection as you will see in the snippet below:
They were the gang that shot straight but could not do much else. The killers of Mark Achilli pumped seven slugs into his body, truly finishing the popular Los Gatos man's life. But in the police affidavit that was released on Friday, the accused killers emerged as the ultimate bumblers: Guys who badly mixed technology with an old-fashioned crime conspiracy.
Two blocks from the scene of the March 14 shooting, police found two items that were key to solving the case: an AOL-generated map showing directions from an unlisted address in Duarte, Calif., to Achilli's town house on Overlook Road, and also a crumpled photo of Achilli downloaded from Metroactive.com.
The find was almost as good as fingerprints. It allowed detectives to put pressure on the man believed to be the pivot of the conspiracy, bar bouncer Daniel Chaidez. When Chaidez lied to the cops, it got sweeter.
Did anyone in this gang ever watch "The Sopranos"? Did any of them see Tony Soprano hunched over a computer, printing out directions to the home of his next victim? Fuggedaboudit. It just wouldn't happen.
Brian Day reports on another shooting in the Valinda-La Puente corridor. Killed Monday morning was a 43-year-old man standing in a driveway in the 700 block of Foxworth Avenue.
From Brian's story:
LA PUENTE - Authorities had few leads Monday in the shooting death of a man in a residential neighborhood, authorities said.
Alex Trejo, 43, of Valinda was pronounced dead at the hospital after being shot numerous times, sheriff's and coroner's officials said.
Deputies responded to 9-1-1 calls reporting a gunshot victim just after 5 a.m. and found a 43-year-old man with multiple gunshot wounds in front of a house in the 700 block of Foxworth Avenue in an unincorporated county area near La Puente, said Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Gerard Velona.
While several witnesses reported hearing gunshots shortly before the body was found, no witnesses reported seeing the shooting, said Detective Steven Blagg of the sheriff's Homicide Bureau.
The man was found lying in the driveway of a single-story home with numerous gunshot wounds from a handgun, Blagg said.
EL MONTE - A stabbing, a shooting, three search warrants leading to a major pot bust and a bomb scare involving 30 pounds of TNT.
It's a roll call of major crime that sounds like it could fit neatly into a busy month for any police department.
But in El Monte, those calls made up part of a frantic 48 hours that saw police handle two homicides - making arrests in both cases; bust up a $2 million pot operation 15 miles away in Rowland Heights; and swiftly clear a neighborhood endangered by 30 pounds of TNT.
"We have a very active city," said police Chief Ken Weldon. "It's a challenge to stay on top of it."
Sheriff's officials said Peter Sanchez, 38, of El Monte, has been arrested in connection with the slaying of Elaine Garza, 41.
Garza was shot to death in the parking lot of Five Points Plaza in El Monte Tuesday.
Her mother identifed Garza as an informant and said family members knew it was coming.
Sanchez doesn't appear in the sheriff's inmate locator as of 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. It is unclear if he has been booked.
*Turns out suspect's name is actually Joseph Sanchez, DOB 10-03-1969. He's being held on a parole violation at the El Monte city jail, according to El Monte police LT. Santos Hernandez.
** Sources close to the investigation said Garza and Sanchez had been involved in some sort of altercation previous to the shooting. The altercation allegedly took place at the Victory Motel where Sanchez was later arrested.
** Sources close to the investigation also said Sanchez fled the scene on a "Razor"-type scooter. He went back to the Victory Motel and was arrested with a handgun still in his waistband.
We're getting reports of a woman being shot to death in a Valley Boulevard parking lot this afternoon. Witnesses say the woman was shot by a young man on a skateboard. He may have been using a large caliber handgun.
One witness said the shooting resulted from a purse snatching gone wrong. We'll update as soon as more info is available.
If true, the shooting would be El Monte's second homicide today and *eighth this year.
*LA County Sheriff's homicide detectives are rolling to the scene of the shooting at 12030 Valley Boulevard (near Five-Points)
*A man has apparently been arrested in connection with the case at the Victory Motel on Garvey Avenue, according to reporter Claudia Palma who is at the scene.
**The victim may have been a well known El Monte police informant, according to several sources. There is a rumor that the victim had informed in a recent case that lead to a large scale bust (possibly the pot house?)
**** A person of interest has been detained in connection with the shooting, sheriff's officials said. The man was apparently in possession of a handgun similar to that used in the killing.
**** The dead woman was identified by authorities and her mother as Elaine "Baby" Garza, 41, a resident of El Monte and mother of four kids.
****Here's my notes from conversation with reporter Claudia Palma who is at the scene:
" her mom thinks she was an informer and the people who might have done this were upset about several raids pulled off by the El Monte PD. Mom not surprised said she expected it. said her daughter lived a bad life..."
***The location where the woman was shot is about 1.5 miles from where a man was stabbed to death earlier in the day. *** Google Map
The stabbing of a man outside the Scenic Bar and Hotel on Garvey Avenue in El Monte Monday night was the city's seventh this year, according to authorities.
By comparison, at this time last year there were just three homicides in El Monte. What a difference a year makes.
Here's the Tribune's 2007 homicide database that I put together last year. You can search El Monte for the 2007 totals.
There's a lot of action on the crime beat today. Here's some examples:
Teen to be arraigned in Columbine-style threats posted on Wikipedia.
An El Monte man was stabbed to death outside a Garvey Avenue bar.
A decomposed body was found late Monday off San Gabriel Canyon Road between Azusa and Glendora. (not many details on this yet)
And, there's this video of an ATM robbery in Norwalk:
Brian Day interviewed family and friends of Jack Hicks, killed last week in El Monte. Many of his acquaintances recalled Hicks as a good guy who made some bad choices ...
Here's the opening from Brian's piece:
EL MONTE - The fatal shooting of 33-year-old Jack "Eddie" Hicks last week remains a mystery, authorities said.
His body was discovered inside a trailer April 12 with a single gunshot wound about two hours after he left his girlfriend's house, according to officials and family members.
No witnesses have come forward and no motive or suspect description is known, said Lt. Gil Carrillo of the Los Angeles County sheriff's Homicide Bureau.
"I hope we find out what really happened," said Hicks' cousin, who requested his name not be published for fear of retaliation.
"He's not just a man found dead in a trailer," said the cousin. "My cousin was a good guy."
"He'd give you the shirt off his back if you're cold," said Hicks' girlfriend, who also asked her name be withheld. "Everywhere he went he was loved," she said.
Hicks had two daughters, 7 and 8 years old, with previous girlfriends and another on the way with his girlfriend, who said she's currently four months' pregnant.
Hicks, who had been in and out of prison over the years and battled a drug problem, "wasn't an angel," said his cousin, but he was a friendly man who didn't have any enemies.
Pasadena Star-News city editor did a little enterprising reporting on the arraignment of Brandon Landreth at the Pasadena courthouse this a.m.
Landreth is acused of killing Justo Cesar Morlaes then skating off from the scene of the crime on Canyon Drive in Arcadia.
Here's what Hector found out(this comes from an IM Hector sent):
He confessed to his ex-wife to killing Morales, telling her he "died quick." also confirmed the skateboard angle.
This comes from Jan Williams in an email.
Williams' son Neal and grandsons Ian and Devon were killed in August at their home in Rowland Heights. Police arrested Neal's wife Manling Tsang Williams on suspicion of murder in the case. She could face the death penalty if convicted.
Here's Jan's letter:
I've been thinking a lot about my littlest guy today. I was sitting on my front porch this morning with a cup of tea and heard the chattering of little voices. I looked down the street to see a double line of preschoolers - about 25 of them- being led on a walk by 3 adult women. My street doesn't have a sidewalk, and the adults struggled to hold the little ones in formation and keep them to the side of the street. They had quite a bit of difficulty as they passed my house as the mailbox drew a lot of attention and the children kept reaching out to touch the evergreen hedge. As they came back down the other side of the street, one little boy broke away and went whirling through the tall, unmown grass across the street. That would have been Ian.
This was going to be Ian's year, when he would finally get to go to preschool like the "big guys." He was very excited about it. He would have been quite a handful, because he had insatiable curiosity, boundless energy and not an ounce of fear. He blew through life like a hurricane, mercurially jumping from one thing to the next without thought. When he broke something or got into trouble as was inevitable, he was usually genuinely surprised. It never occurred to him that anything could possibly go wrong, or that you would actually get mad at him, even though you had told him repeatedly not to continue with what he was doing. There were no half measures with Ian. He threw himself into life with great abandon, and lived totally in the moment. It might not be a good idea to build a ladder out of chairs and climb to the top, but once imagined, the deed had to be carried through to fruition immediately, no matter the consequences.
So yes, Ian would have been learning to walk in a line holding hands with a partner. (Probably a girl, because Ian just loved little girls). But he couldn't have resisted opening and closing the mailbox several times, and pulling needles off the hedge, even if it pricked his fingers. And as for the yard of unmown grass, waving knee high in the gentle breeze... absolutely irresistable. Just like Ian. I miss him. Jan
Yesterday I created a mirror site, in case of problems during our move to larger and better servers. It requires posting to both sites and hoping there's some kind of synchronization. I must admit I haven't done a complete job of it.
There are posts on the mirror site that aren't here and vice versa.
Here's a link to the mirror site.
As for the missing posts from this site, there are two. The first is titled "Girl pleads guilty to manslaughter, evading and street racing."
Here's an outtake:
A 17-year-old girl pled guilty Monday to several charges stemming from a collision that killed Angela Chung, 19, of Temple City.
Here's an excerpt from Dan Abendschein's online piece:PASADENA - A 17-year-old girl pleaded guilty on Monday to four felony counts in a street racing case that killed a 19-year-old student from Temple City.
The girl, whose name was not released because of her age, was convicted in juvenile court. She will serve three months in a county probation department camp, and will have to pay restitution to the victim's family.
The second is a follow to the El Monte Homicide from the weekend. Again an excerpt:
The victim lived in a trailer (not apparently visible on Google Earth). Left no fingerprint of his existence as far as public records and was apparently arrested three times in recent months by El Monte and Baldwin Park police, according to the Los Angeles County's Sheriff's Inmate Locator.
The guy also has a lengthy rap sheet for drug possession, car thievery and spousal abuse. Motive anyone?
Here's our story for (Tuesday's) paper:
EL MONTE — Detectives are continuing to investigate the death of a 33-year-old man found shot inside a trailer late Saturday.
Jack Edward Hicks’ body was discovered shortly before midnight in the 5200 block of Cogswell Road, said Los Angeles County sheriff’s Deputy Denise Fuchs.
The body was found inside a trailer next to a back house where Hicks had been staying, said Detective Gil Carrillo of the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau.
This comes from John Schwada's blog on the FOX 11 website. Thanks to LA Observed for pointing it out.
Schwada is one of the few TV reporters I respect. That's primarily because he comes from a newspaper background and knows how to write, edit and speak proper English. Additionally, (and perhaps most importantly) he is a good reporter as this blog post should make clear.
Baca's deputies in Temple City and Monrovia city officials might want to take note of these remarks. During the late January and early February Monrovia crime spree that left four dead, there was constant denial of racial undertones in the crimes.
Here's an excerpt from Schwada's blog entry:
LA County Sheriff Lee Baca, on April 4th, told a largely African-American audience in Compton that when Latino gangs are at war with black gangs over drugs and turf they are sometimes satisfied to kill any young black living in their rival’s territory in order to flex their criminal muscle. In other words, Baca asserted innocents are being targeted for death by gangs just because of their race. Sounds like a hate-crime to most of us.
Not much information available on this one. Appears to have happened late Saturday night. Sheriff's and El Monte PD just got around to reporting it Monday. Here's the details from our website:
EL MONTE - Authorities today identified a man found shot to death in an El Monte home during the weekend.
Jack Edward Hicks, 35, was found dead about 11:50 p.m. Saturday in the 5200 block of Cogswell road, said Deputy Ed Hernandez of the Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau.
Sheriff's homicide detectives were assisting El Monte police in the investigation
This from Brian Day...notice Rosenberg's quote about how the Rosemead deputies contributed to the arrest:
ROSEMEAD — Investigators have arrested a man and woman on suspicion of fatally stabbing a local man following an argument Monday.
Jesus Murieta, 29, and Leticia Sanchez, 41, were arrested Wednesay on suspicion of murder, said Lt. Dan Rosenberg of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau. Both suspects are transients, he said.
Murieta and Sanchez are believed to have stabbed 20-year-old Leonel Cervantes in the “upper torso” about 7:30 p.m. in the 2700 block of Delta Avenue, Rosenberg said.Cervantes died from his wounds about 1:25 a.m. the following day at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, said Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Assistant Chief Ed Winter.
Rosenberg declined to say which suspect was believed to have wielded the knife.
The stabbing apparently stemmed from an argument between the suspects and Cervantes that occurred minutes earilier at a nearby park, Rosenberg said.
A hearing in the Man-Ling Williams case, scheduled for Wednesday, was postponed to a date in the future that has yet to be determined.
Eventually there will be a preliminary hearing in the case. When that will take place is anybody's guess.
Williams is accused of killing her husband by slashing him to death with a ninja sword last August. She is also accused of killing the couple's two children by smothering them to death in their beds.
The family lived in an apartment/condo in Rowland Heights.
THe Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to extend the amount of time a reward would be offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer or killers of Robert Whitehead, a good samaritan who was shot to death outside his parents home when he confronted a group of taggers.
Arrests have been made in the case and at least one man suspected of involvement, Paul "Malo" Salazar, a onetime Bishop Amat student who was an alleged member of Puente 13, is dead.
Salazar was killed outside his home last summer.
From the notebook ...
One of the unique features of the vast Los Angeles County bureaucracy can be found in the Department of Coroner.
Unlike most other California counties, the coroner is not elected and the head medical examiner doesn’t report to the Sheriff’s Department.
Back in the 1970s and 1980s when Dr. Thomas Noguchi headed the department, that separation sometimes caused local politicians and law enforcement tons of headaches. Noguchi, known as “coroner to the stars,” did press conferences, held public inquests, and sometimes made rulings that flew in the face of conventional wisdom.
Two, even three decades later, the memory of Noguchi looms large in many ways. Even if nothing (except the retro concrete buildings on North Mission) else is remotely the same.
“There’s way more technology,” said Ed Winter, a former Arcadia police officer who is now the Department of Coroner’s assistant chief of operations. “You can’t just make guesses anymore. I’m not saying Noguchi guessed, but we have much more data and much more information now.”
Even with all that technology, and all those new forms of information, medical examiners and investigators apparently have been unable to determine how Liya “Jessie” Lu died, according to prosecutors in the case.
Lu, 31, disappeared in August after being dropped off at her boyfriend’s home in San Gabriel. Police pleaded for help locating the woman. A couple of weeks later her body was found stuffed into a plastic trash can and covered with kitty litter.
Her boyfriend, Isaac Campbell, 32, became the object of a nationwide manhunt. He turned up hiding out in a low-budget motel on the outskirts of Minneapolis in mid-September. Campbell fought extradition to California and lost.
But, he’s been able to stave off arraignment in the case because of the lack of a coroner’s report, officials said.
Last week, Superior Court Judge Carlos Uranga postponed arraignment in the case until May 6, primarily because of the lack of information.
On Monday, Winter said the coroner’s report and autopsy results for Lu remain on a security hold. He was unable to discuss the specifics of either. Case watchers will have to hold their collective breath another month to see where this one goes.
X X X
Hey readers, I want you to know that I analyze all the e-mails you send — as well as cards and letters. Thanks to all of you for some timely tips; you guys are the eyes and ears of the Crime Scene Blog and column on the streets of the SGV and I really appreciate the input.
That said, I must apologize to several of you for my tardiness responding to e-mails. Guess that makes it about time for a New Year’s resolution.
Official counts indicate three murders county-wide during the 40-hour "Murder Moratorium."
The moratorium was planned as a way of honoring the death 40 years ago of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. THe LA City Council rejected the idea initally, but did issue a proclamation against violence. No one's checked weekend violence stats yet, but undoubtedly they are typical for an average weekend in Los Angeles County.
One of those killed over the weekend was a 23-year-old La Puente man, shot to death in the 400 block of Edgley Drive in Monterey Park.
Alfred Richard Chavez, 23, was shot about 1:20 a.m. Sunday, according to a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner. Sheriff's Homicide is investigating the case.
Richard's case is the third homicide in the La Puente area investigated by the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau this year.
Joe Rudy Encinas of La Puente was pronounced dead at the scene of a March 8 shooting on Tonopah Avenue near Flynn Street, coroner's officials said - about one mile away from where Richard was shot.
Encinas was driving his car when he was shot in the back, officials added. A motive or suspect description was not known.
Lt. Larry Lincoln of the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau said Encinas was not known to have any gang ties.
On Feb. 3, a 43-year-old La Puente resident was found stabbed to death inside a trailer in the 13800 block of Proctor Avenue, said Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Edmundo Hummel.
"(The violence) needs to stop," said Julie, Richard's sister. "We wanted to come out here not just for Richard, but for all the victims."
Alice said her son's organs have already helped to save the lives of at least eight people.
"Pray for those people who got his organs," she said.
Alice addressed the group of young people in front of the memorial, urging them to use caution.
"All you kids please be careful. Watch it out there. Keep an eye on your back. Keep an eye on your friends' backs. Keep safe," said Alice.
Brandon Michael Landreth, suspected in the Sunday slaying of Justo Morales holds a California state teaching credential and was teaching at Muir High when arrested in the case, according to preliminary information.
A commenter here said Landreth and Morales were involved in a love triangle that went sour. We have no evidence of that, however Landreth and his wife recently divorced.
Neighbors on Canyon Road in Arcadia where Morales was killed were guarded when speaking to reporter Robert Hong who visited the scene this afternoon.
In Monrovia, where Landreath and his estranged wife lived, neighbors said little about the couple.
For now Ladreath is being held at the Twin Towers jail on a no bail warrant. He will be arraigned Friday, authorities said.
Arcadia police announced they've made an arrest in the shooting death of Justo Cesar Morales, 25, of Arcadia. Officers found Morales at about 1:40 p.m. Sunday, dead inside his parents' home in the 2200 block of Canyon Road.
Brandon Michael Landreth, 30, of Monrovia was arrested in Pasadena last night in connection with the killing he is being held in Twin Towers without bail. Arraignment is scheduled for Friday.
We were tipped to this information from a Crime Scene reader. Thank you.
Arcadia police officers, who had no problem talking to us during their contract dispute, refused to discuss the case beyond the basics with reporter Robert Hong.
That's OK though, we're still going to get the whole story for tomorrow's paper.
The Los Angeles City Council dropped plans Tuesday for a symbolic moratorium on killing, deciding instead to use the upcoming anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination to promote peace.
Council members had been asked by a handful of activists to declare a 40-hour ban on murder and other violence, a concept one critic quickly derided as "silliness."
After a 45-minute debate, the council reworked its resolution, saying the city's opposition to homicides should last more than a single weekend.
"A moratorium on violence and killing is something we should support 365 days a year and every minute we live," said Councilman Richard Alarcon, who represents part of the San Fernando Valley.
What a week.
Violence erupted on our freeways. Crooks took pot shots at police officers and the cops shot back. Someone executed an Arcadia man inside his parents' home. The Department of Coroner attempted to sort out the details surrounding the strange death of a Pico Rivera man found dead in a Ford sedan the morning after his wedding.
Two kindly grandfathers working as car salesmen in East Los Angeles were herded into a back room and blasted. Twenty minutes later, and a block or so away, two other guys were killed in a drive-by.
Oh, and the parents of Moe the chimp encountered a purse snatcher Sunday at a Target store in West Covina.
On Wednesday afternoon, St. James and LaDonna Davis held a press conference at attorney Gloria Allred's office in a Wilshire Boulevard highrise overlooking the Hollywood Hills to discuss the incident.
"How could she do this to me?" St. James said. "I keep asking myself 'why, why, why do I have such bad luck?'"
This is news.
As proof, TMZ.com was streaming live and KTLA, KABC, KCBS, KCAL and KTTV all sent their heaviest hitters.
There's a huge file of stories about Moe the chimp in the newspaper's morgue dating back a decade or so. Most have pictures. The saddest shows St. James Davis wailing as his "son" is carted away from the family's West Covina home in September 1999.
The most recent mention comes from 2005. Chimps attacked and mauled St. James on the grounds of Moe's new home, the Animal Haven Ranch in Caliente.
As a result of the attack and 60 surgeries, St. James' face is disfigured and he is confined to a wheelchair. He could only sit and watch Sunday as LaDonna's purse was taken from their shopping cart. On Wednesday, 15 of my colleagues were there to chronicle this latest twist of the Davises.
After all, who doesn't like monkeys or stories about monkeys? (Yes I know Moe's a chimp — but in a generic sense he's a monkey.)
Monkeys are funny. It's in their genes. Every time I think about the chain-smoking Mr. Teeny, Krusty the Clown's sidekick on "The Simpsons," I smile. I put Ronald Reagan right up there in the pantheon of presidents, but who can remember a single movie of his other than "Bedtime for Bonzo"?
I must admit, I stifled a grin when I saw how much attention the Davises' case got.
In that context, who can blame Allred for using the chimp to make chumps of the local media?
"They are on a fixed income and are still coping with the life-changing consequence of the attack by the chimps," Allred said. "LaDonna spends her days caring for St. James, feeding him, bathing him, helping him in and out of his wheelchair and taking him to doctors."
For most of us, a purse snatching winds up with the police taking a report, and the bank and credit card companies taking their sweet time to return your lost plastic.
Don't forget the line at the DMV taking a century or so to navigate just to get a paper license and a new picture.
I know. My wife, Rosie, and I lived this once. When our son Matthew was born at San Gabriel Valley Medical Center, he had to spend the first week of his life in the neonatal ward in an induced coma.
It's one of those secure and supposedly clean wards of the hospital. Everyone has to scrub down. Purses and other personal items need to be left on a table away from the sick babies.
One Sunday when we were visiting the little guy, someone walked off with Rosie's purse. I think we called in a report to the police.
Eventually the wallet came back, with a note that said, "sorry." But the plastic and the money was gone. I guess someone needed it more than we did.
And that was that.
Maybe we would have scored it all back if Matt had been born a monkey.
I received the email below after posting this entry on the homicide in Arcadia. I've redacted the writer's name because its unimportant.
Here's the letter:
I think it's interesting how very glib you are being about this murder. Have you been to the area of the crime, Canyon Road? Do you really think it's "ritzy"? What a ridiculous word to describe an area of canyon homes- they are for the most part not ostentatious, not shiny, not over the top. The word "ritzy" immediately sets you up to look immature and not objective. Is this murder any less horrifying because it happened in Arcadia?
Get over yourself.
Arraignment for Isaac Campbell, 32, accused of killing his girlfriend Liya "Jessie" Lu, ,31, then stuffing her body in a trash can filled with kitty litter was postponed again Tuesday, officials said.
Apparently the Los Angeles Department of Coroner is having a difficult time determining the cause of Lu's death, and therefore Campbell cannot be arraigned, according to officials who spoke to Pasadena Star-News reporter Fred Ortega at the Alhambra courthouse. The arraignment was continued until the end of next month, officials said.
Students at PCC, where Lu was a nursing student have been folowing the case via the PCC Courier, which carried this report by Franco Sui Yuan:
One time PCC student Isaac Campbell, suspected in slaying former PCC student Liya Jessie Lu, will make a new appearance on court, after his arraignment was postponed today at the Alhambra Courthouse.
Superior Court Judge Carlos Uranga postponed the arraignment to May 6 due to the tardiness in receiving the Coroner’s report.
The report contains the information of Lu’s cause of death.
“We still don’t have a copy of the [Coroner’s] report,” said Deputy District Attorney and Prosecutor Steve Ipson. “Hopefully it will be available soon.”
Campbell spent several weeks on the lam in connection with the Aug. 11 disappearance and death of Lu before he was captured in Minneapolis in September.
Lu had been reported missing on Aug. 11 after she was dropped off at Campbell's apartment in San Gabriel, authorities said. Her car, a Mazda Miata, was also reported missing.
The car was recovered in the same Arcadia back yard where Lu's body was found, according to a friend of the homeowner who asked to remain anonymous.
Just prior to Campbell's capture, detectives held a news conference asking for assistance locating him. Among the information released at the news conference were details that indicated Lu's body was covered with kitty litter after being stuffed in a 90-gallon plastic trash can.
That information combined with several Internet posts on this blog and Usenet newsgroups helped lead investigators to Campbell, Sheriff's homicide Lt. Gil Carrillo said.
The strange events surrounding the death of a 25-year-old man in a ritzy Arcadia neighborhood got stranger Monday as police announced they are investigating the case as a homicide. When reporter Brian Day and I first heard about this Sunday night we believed it was a suicide.
Guess we were wrong
Here is some of reporter Robert Hong's story on the incident:
In only the second homicide so far this year in Arcadia, police Monday identified the man as Justo Cesar Morales, 25, of Arcadia. Officers found Morales at about 1:40 p.m. Sunday, dead inside his parents' home in the 2200 block of Canyon Road.
Investigators say whoever shot Morales went there looking for him.
Shortly before the discovery, someone reported hearing the rare sound of gunshots in the neighborhood, Arcadia Police Department officials said.
After pinpointing where the shots came from, officers went to the home and found Morales.
No one else was at the house at the time of the shooting.
It was no random act; Morales was targeted, police said Monday.
Here's an AP version of a pretty grim tale from the streets of East Los Angeles:
LOS ANGELES -- Two dead men at two shooting scenes, separated by less than a mile, and killed about 20 minutes apart.
Monday's double homicides "apparently...were absolutely unrelated," said Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore.
But some residents of the neighborhood in East Los Angeles aren't so sure.
"I don't think it's a coincidence," Martha Montes, 43, said as she waited behind the crime tape where two men were found dead in the street. "I can't believe this is not connected. Two shootings like this, only blocks away?"
The first shooting occurred around 1:20 p.m. at a used car dealership, where two men were found dead in the garage area, said Lt. Dave Coleman.
The owner of Jesse's Auto Sales on East Olympic Boulevard reported that two cars were missing from the lot, and detectives think the gunmen stole those vehicles, Coleman said.
The victims' identities were not immediately released.
"I can't believe there are two here and two down there," said Cynthia Szukala said as she stood near the dealership.
The second shooting occurred about 20 minutes later less than a mile away.
Sheriff's deputies found two male victims in the street on South Herbert Avenue but weren't sure of the circumstances surrounding the deaths.
No arrests were reported Monday in either case.
From KNBC:
All of the victims are Latino men, according to sheriff's deputies.
The suspects at the Olympic Avenue address -- Jesse's Auto Sales -- took two vehicles.
One was a gray four-door 2000 Jeep Cherokee with the license plate 4LVE195, and the other was a four-door 2001 Dodge with the license 7Z41469.
Assistant Coroner Chief Ed Winter said that according to reports from the scene, the shooting at the home was gang-related, while the other was a carjacking.
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