Police Say Rifle Links Survivalist to Slaying of Woman in Redlands

A .22-caliber rifle police believe was used in the June 17 murder of a Redlands woman was found Tuesday and linked to the survivalist who is suspected of killing her, Redlands police said.

Mary Rose Lengerich, 72, was shot in the back while walking her dog near San Timoteo Canyon in Redlands. Last Saturday, Riverside County sheriff’s deputies arrested Danny Figueroa, 26, a gun-toting survivalist suspected in the death of Lengerich and two other ambush slayings.

Redlands police have questioned Figueroa and “have obtained corroborating evidence regarding his participation” in Lengerich’s killing, Police Chief Robert E. Brickley said Tuesday. He did not elaborate on what that evidence is.

The suspected murder weapon was found in Reche Canyon, about five miles southeast of Redlands.

Investigators from several other law enforcement agencies have also questioned Figueroa, who customarily wore battle fatigues and “lived off the land,” police said.

“At this time, he could be responsible for as many as three homicides, two attempted homicides, one felony assault, one kidnaping and numerous thefts and burglaries,” Brickley’s statement said.

In May, authorities began an exhaustive search for Figueroa after the shooting death of Reynold Johnson, 53, in front of his home in Aguanga, near Hemet. Later, Raymond Wallace Webber, 19, of Yucaipa, was shot once in the head while sitting in his pickup truck near San Timoteo Canyon.

Police combed hundreds of square miles of mountainous terrain, using dogs and helicopters, before spotting Figueroa on Saturday, hiding in the undergrowth of a flood-control channel near Lake Perris Dam.

He is being held without bail in the Riverside County Jail.