2 Jailed, 3rd Suspect Sought in Lawyer’s Slaying

Santa Ana police have arrested two Anaheim residents and are seeking an arrest warrant for a third in connection with the murder of attorney Jessie M. Grimes last week.

Valerie L. Kalman, 19, and George R. Peterson, 28, were arrested Friday and booked into Orange County Jail.

Grimes’ 25-year-old son, Michael W. Grimes, was arrested after the shooting last Wednesday on suspicion of murder but was released, according to police spokeswoman Maureen Thomas. She said detectives now believe that the younger Grimes was not involved in the shooting.

Thomas said investigators suspect robbery was the motive behind Grimes’ slaying and will seek charges of murder and grand theft against Peterson and Kalman this week. Both are being held in the County Jail in lieu of $251,000 bail.

A third suspect, Timothy Shawn Stotler, 19, who lives at the same address as Kalman on South Kroeger Street, is being sought, Thomas said.

Information on the arrests was not released until Monday because police hoped to capture Stotler in Orange County, Thomas said. Stotler now is believed to have fled the state, she said.

A .32-caliber Beretta handgun and a .22-caliber AR-7 rifle allegedly used in the shooting were confiscated by police, Thomas said.

Jessie Grimes, 55, a retired U.S. Marine captain who practiced family law in Orange, was found by police in an upstairs bedroom of his apartment in the 2200 block of North Broadway in Santa Ana last Wednesday. He had been shot three times in the chest, detectives said. It appeared that a shot had also been fired through the bedroom door before it was kicked in, they said.

Neighbors reported hearing loud arguing in the apartment before the shots were fired.

Police Monday would not specify what was taken in the robbery or whether any property was recovered from the suspects.

Funeral services are scheduled for 10 a.m. today at the Tustin Marine Corps Air Station, where Grimes last served.