Police Arrest Man in 1986 Murder of Costa Mesa Woman

Police have arrested a suspect in the murder of a Costa Mesa woman who never returned from a grocery store trip more than a year ago, a spokesman said Friday.

Costa Mesa detectives arrested Patrick Michael Pearse, 26, at 1 p.m. Thursday near his home in San Jacinto, Riverside County, Sgt. Dennis Cost said.

Pearse, who is being held in Costa Mesa City Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail, is accused of robbing and murdering Sandra Ann Neary, Cost said.

Neary, 32, disappeared on Oct. 11, 1986, when she went to the store and did not return. Her body was found 13 days later dumped alongside the Riverside Freeway near Corona. According to a coroner’s report, she had been strangled.

The suspect, who was known to the Neary family, was questioned at the time of the woman’s disappearance, Cost said.

“He was one of the people that we talked to because Stephen Neary (Sandra’s husband) had reported he was over at the house the day she disappeared,” he said.

Going for Groceries

Stephen Neary, 32, told police that his wife had said she was going for groceries the night she disappeared, Cost said. However, police later learned later, Cost said, that the woman had met Pearse in the parking lot of the Daily Pilot newspaper plant at 330 W. Bay St., Costa Mesa.

“Fairly early on, we suspected her sole reason for leaving was not simply to go to the grocery store,” Cost said.

Cost said that Pearse apparently wanted the victim to give him money to buy drugs but that Neary had refused.

“We believe that’s the motive for killing,” Cost said.

Investigators theorize that Pearse killed Neary in the parking lot and took the body to Riverside County in her car and dumped it. The car, which was ransacked, was later found in Costa Mesa, the police spokesman said.

Inquiry Continued

Although Pearse was not arrested last year, Cost said police, with aid from the district attorney’s office, had continued the investigation that led to his arrest.

Police said Pearse also had retaliated against Stephen Neary after his wife was slain, blaming Neary for the investigation against him. Pearse was accused of stabbing Stephen Neary during a scuffle, but the charge was was dismissed later for lack of evidence, according to court records.

Stephen Neary died in December of a drug overdose in a Buena Park apartment where he and his 18-month-old daughter, Rebecca, had moved. The child was found weak and dehydrated in the apartment when Neary’s body was found.

The child then was sent to live with an aunt in Northridge, Cost said.

Pearse will be arraigned on murder charges in Harbor Municipal Court on Monday or Tuesday, Cost said.