Category: Metro

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (TCD) — Police have arrested an Arizona man after officials found a missing woman dead in California.

On the morning of Monday, Nov. 6, the Holbrook Police Department said 54-year-old Christi Romero’s family reported her missing from Arizona. Police said her vehicle, a 1995 Plymouth Neon, was also nowhere to be found.

Police said the “circumstances surrounding Christi’s disappearance are suspicious in nature.”

Officers determined that 34-year-old Richard Rodriguez allegedly “forced his way into Christi’s residence and forced her to leave.” They also believe he had her 9 mm pistol in his possession. In an effort to find Romero, police posted photos of her, Rodriguez, and the stolen vehicle.

Later that day, at around 5:15 p.m., the Huntington Beach Police Department responded to a home on the 17000 block of Friml Lane in reference to a “family disturbance.” Patrol officers secured the location and discovered a dead adult female at the scene.

According to KTLA-TV, police found the victim, Romero, in the trunk of a parked sedan near the home.

Police arrested Rodriguez on suspicion of Romero’s murder.

Romero had reportedly filed a protective order against Rodriguez several days before her body was found.

The investigation is ongoing.

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HILLSBORO, Ore. (TCD) — A man has been convicted of killing his roommate in 2021 and threatening to shoot himself while armed with multiple weapons and over 100 rounds of ammunition.

According to a news release from the Washington County District Attorney’s Office, on Friday, Nov. 3, a jury found James Dewhurst guilty of second-degree murder with a firearm and unlawful use of a weapon with a firearm after deliberating for approximately three hours.

On the morning of Aug. 30, 2021, Dewhurst called a suicide hotline and revealed he was armed and planning to fatally shoot himself. He also said he intended to fight law enforcement and was preparing for a “gunfight with police.”

A Beaverton Police Department officer spoke with Dewhurst on the phone to assist, and while they were talking, Dewhurst reportedly admitted that he killed his roommate, 43-year-old Rocky Harkins.

According to the district attorney’s office, officers successfully negotiated with Dewhurst to leave his apartment, and they apprehended him without incident. During a search of his home, police found Harkins dead from a single, “close-range” gunshot wound. Officers also recovered two Glock handguns and an AR-15 rifle, along with a tactical vest with several loaded rifle magazines and more than 150 rounds of ammunition.

Further investigation revealed that Dewhurst put together the weaponry after shooting Harkins but before he called the suicide hotline.

In court, Dewhurst argued that he shot the victim in self-defense.

Dewhurst’s sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 1, and he remains held in the Washington County Jail. 

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GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas (TCD) — A 44-year-old woman will spend the rest of her life behind bars for fatally stabbing a mother and her daughter following an altercation about her living situation in 2020.

On Nov. 1, Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney Phil Sorrells announced that a judge sentenced Jillian Johnson to life in prison after she pleaded guilty to killing 71-year-old Gloria Prince and 53-year-old Gloria Booker.

According to Sorrells, on Oct. 25, 2020, Johnson, who lived with the two victims, fatally stabbed Prince and Booker after they told her to move out “due to her behavior.”

In court, Booker’s daughter Tye Jones addressed Johnson, stating, “On October 25, 2020, you shattered my family’s life. You stabbed two of the most important people in my life.”

Jones reportedly said she “relies on God to give her the strength to make it through each day without her mother, who was her best friend.”

According to Sorrells, Jones continued and said, “Neither her mother nor her grandmother deserved to die the way they did.”

Johnson is in custody at Lon Evans Corrections Center, records show.

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THURSTON COUNTY, Wash. (TCD) — Officials positively identified human remains found last month as a missing man who had not been seen since 2019.

According to a statement, on Oct. 28, a hunter in the Rochester/Grand Mound area called the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office after discovering possible human remains. Detectives from the Search and Rescue team as well as K-9s from other counties went to the location and continued the search.

The remains were positively identified Nov. 2 as 20-year-old Matthew Anfeldt.

On Feb. 28, 2019, Anfeldt’s neighbor called the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office to report he had been trespassing on her property. The sheriff’s office said in a statement at the time Anfeldt was “displaying very unusual behavior,” in which he was “ranting his family was injured or dead and ‘they were after him.’”

He then reportedly left his neighbor’s house, jumped over a fence, then ran into the middle of a highway where “multiple vehicles were forced to swerve or stop completely to avoid collision with him.” At one point, he reportedly jumped on a car’s hood, then into the bed of a truck.

Minutes later, he ran to a grocery store. The store employee told investigators Anfeldt looked “panicked” and that he was sweating a lot and had dried blood on his mouth. Once again, he reportedly said his “family had been killed and he needed to get a ride because ‘they’ were after him as well.”

The employee called 911, but Anfeldt fled.

Sheriff’s office deputies searched for Anfeldt, but he was nowhere to be found. They also did not receive any other calls about Anfeldt’s actions. Deputies called Anfeldt’s mother, who said there was “no validity” to Anfeldt’s claims. She told investigators she was “unsure exactly what may have triggered his unusual behavior because she felt he was currently sober.”

However, the sheriff’s office said there were unfounded claims Anfeldt could have been on meth, ecstasy, and/or lorazepam.

The statement said Anfeldt was “hallucinating and made statements of wanting to ‘hide.’”

Anfeldt’s mother told KCPQ-TV, “It felt like almost five years of emotion, every emotion I felt the last five years just sort of running through me at one time. I couldn’t really cry. I just remember my body starting to shake.”

She said, “I want to be able to lay him to rest. I want to be able to have him home with us and if that’s all I get, I’ll take that, but I do, if somebody did something, I do want them to pay that ultimate consequence.”

The Sheriff’s Office said this week they were not providing additional details about his death due to the pending investigation.

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JACKSON COUNTY, Colo. (TCD) — Using forensic investigative genetic genealogy and other advancements in DNA technology, officials have identified a homicide victim whose remains were located on a remote road near the Wyoming border in 1987.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office announced Monday, Nov. 6, that investigators identified the victim as 24-year-old Jerry Mikkelson.

On Aug. 8, 1983, Mikkelson’s family reported him missing after he left his Sioux Falls, South Dakota, home, according to the sheriff’s office. Officials determined that Mikkelson possibly spent time in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Olathe, Kansas; and Wyoming and Colorado.

At the time of his disappearance, the sheriff’s office said Mikkelson was about 5-foot-9 and approximately 160 pounds. Mikkelson had brown eyes and brown wavy hair.

Several years later, on Oct. 18, 1987, investigators found Mikkelson’s remains on a forest service road 15 miles north of Walden, Colorado, and 5 miles from the Wyoming border. The sheriff’s office observed a tag on his vest that had the initials “L.B.L.” Using soil samples from the victim’s hair, the sheriff’s office determined someone had killed Mikkelson in Wyoming and dumped his body in Colorado.

Despite investigators’ efforts, the case went cold.

Nearly 36 years later, on June 28, 2023, the sheriff’s office exhumed the victim’s remains, gathered new DNA samples, and found a surgical titanium rod in the right femur. Mikkelson’s family told officials he had the titanium rod placed after he broke his femur six years before his death, according to the sheriff’s office.

The investigation is ongoing, and the sheriff’s office has asked anyone with information about the case to contact their department.

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LAS VEGAS (TCD) — A 33-year-old man faces multiple charges after he allegedly entered a woman’s apartment, locked her out, and strangled her young son until he became unconscious.

According to court documents obtained by KLAS-TV, on Thursday, Oct. 26, Las Vegas Police Department officers received a call about a home invasion on Hacienda Avenue and Maryland Parkway near the Harry Reid International Airport. Police learned the suspect, Kareem Hollins, allegedly “forced his way” into a woman’s apartment while she was inside with her 11-year-old son. Hollins allegedly pushed the woman outside, then locked the door.

KTNV-TV, which also cites court documents, reports the woman attempted to keep the door open, but Hollins forced it shut. She began calling for help outside, and neighbors showed up to assist in trying to get the door open. One neighbor broke a window to get in. After that, Hollins reportedly opened the door and ran away.

KLAS says the woman made her way in and found her son “on the kitchen floor, unconscious, suffering from apparent injuries caused by the suspect.”

Las Vegas Metro Police located Hollins and apprehended him following a chase on foot. The arrest report alleges Hollins “made a spontaneous utterance that he had choked” the boy.

According to KTNV, the boy was taken to University Medical Center for injuries to his neck, face, and upper chest. The boy reportedly told police he asked Hollins to go with his mom, but Hollins allegedly told him, “I can’t hear you,” and “I’m gonna go hard mode on you.”

Police reportedly wrote Hollins hurt the boy “to the point of unconsciousness by strangulation.”

Investigators are reportedly looking into whether Hollins was involved in another break-in nearby.

Las Vegas court records show Hollins is being charged with residential burglary, battery by strangulation, child abuse/neglect, kidnapping, attempted murder, home invasion, and kidnapping of a minor. A Clark County judge set his bail at $300,000.

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SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine (TCD) — State Police detectives arrested a 65-year-old man this week for allegedly killing a woman whose body was found on the side of the road in early September.

On Sept. 5 at 4:11 p.m., South Portland Police Department officers were called to Clark’s Pond Parkway near a Home Depot after someone called to report finding a body on an embankment close to the sidewalk. Police arrived on scene and found a deceased female victim. South Portland Police contacted Maine State Police, who took over the investigation.

Almost exactly two months later, on Nov. 4, Maine State Police announced investigators took Gary Mariner into custody on a murder charge in connection with 52-year-old Danielle Goodwin’s death. State Police did not reveal her cause of death.

According to the Portland Press Herald, Mariner was convicted in 2017 of gross sexual assault while impersonating a police officer. A judge sentenced him to 12 years with all but four suspended. He reportedly took his deceased father’s police badge and used it to pressure a prostitute for free sex. He was also charged with assault in 1978. His father once served as chief of police for the Cape Elizabeth Police Department.

The Maine sex offender registry shows Mariner will be registered as an offender for the rest of his life.

Goodwin reportedly worked with people who had substance abuse addictions. She reportedly relapsed not long before her death.

One of Goodwin’s friends told the Portland Press Herald she “had a way of making anybody feel special just by being in her presence.”

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