Huntington man arrested in deaths of wife’s 2 co-workers; bodies found in Newport after Westminster house fire
A Huntington Beach man is being held at Orange County Jail without bail after being arrested Monday in connection with the deaths of two of his wife’s co-workers after a house fire in Westminster that is suspected to be arson.
Christopher Ireland, 37, was taken into custody on suspicion of murder after the bodies of the two women were found miles away in Newport Beach.
The case began to unfold about 5:30 a.m. Sunday, when the Orange County Fire Authority was called to a fire at a house in the 5000 block of Northwestern Way in Westminster. Firefighters extinguished the blaze and called arson investigators and Westminster police detectives to the scene because of “suspicious circumstances surrounding the fire,” according to police.
When authorities arrived, the homeowner, 59-year-old Yolanda Holtrey, and her friend, a 49-year-old woman from Huntington Beach, were nowhere to be found.
The Orange County coroner’s office identified the second woman Wednesday as Michelle Luke. Friends said she worked with Holtrey and Ireland’s wife, Samantha, at the Huntington Beach location of Stein Mart, a department store.
By Monday morning, detectives had information that led them to the women’s bodies, which were found in a field off Bonita Canyon Drive and Ford Road in Newport Beach.
They apparently were killed at the home and then were moved, police said. Authorities have not said how the women died.
“The motive for the crime is still under investigation,” said Westminster police Cmdr. Cameron Knauerhaze. “We do not believe any other suspects are outstanding.”
Ireland’s wife told KNBC-TV/4 that she and her husband attended a New Year’s Eve party at Holtrey’s house. When they arrived home around 1:30 a.m. Sunday, she and her husband went to sleep, she said.
“I don’t remember him leaving the house in the middle of the night; he doesn’t remember anything,” Samantha Ireland told the station, adding that her husband may have been sleepwalking.
Christopher Ireland is a licensed real estate agent who works for Realty One Group Inc. in Rancho Cucamonga. He first received his license in August, according to the California Bureau of Real Estate.
Samantha Ireland told Channel 4 that her husband had planned to help Holtrey sell her home.
Police asked that anyone with information about the case call Westminster police Det. Jim Wilson at (714) 898-3315 or Orange County Crime Stoppers at (855) TIP-OCCS (847-6227).
Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
