California man’s body found buried in backyard, roommate arrested
The suspect allegedly made statements to at least one other person that he killed his roommate, police say.
A Riverside man was arrested earlier this week on suspicion of killing a roommate during a dispute and then burying the body in the backyard of the home they shared, police said on Friday, Oct. 17.
Investigators don’t yet know what the suspect, Richard Thomas Martinez, 48, and the victim, 31-year-old Bradley Minder, argued about, police said.
Minder’s family last heard from him over the weekend and called Riverside police on Tuesday night, Oct. 15, said Officer Ryan Railsback, a police spokesman. Around 7:45 p.m. that night, officers went to the 8700 block of Sylvan Drive in the Arlanza neighborhood where Minder lived.
Railsback said he believes at least three people lived there.
Officers learned that the suspect allegedly said to at least one other person he killed a roommate, police said. Officers then detained him.
There was freshly disturbed dirt in the backyard, Railsback said, so detectives, forensic specialists and Riverside County sheriff’s cadaver dogs were called in.
The dogs alerted them about the disturbed dirt, and detectives dug and saw part of a body, Railsback said. The Riverside Sheriff-Coroner’s Office recovered the body.
“We don’t believe the victim was shot or stabbed,” Railsback said.
Martinez was arrested on suspicion of murder early Wednesday morning. As of Friday morning, he was being held without the possibility of bail at the Robert Presley Detention Center.
On Friday, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office charged Martinez with murder. They also alleged that Martinez personally used deadly and dangerous weapons, in this case a hammer, a shovel and a knife, while committing the crime, according to the criminal complaint.
Police asked anyone with information about the case to contact Detective Ricky Barajas at 951-353-7213 or at EBarajas@RiversideCA.gov.
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