Killings Apparently Unrelated : 2nd Woman Is Found Strangled, Throat Cut

A 48-year-old housewife was strangled and her throat slashed in her Clairemont home Thursday, police said.

It was the second strangulation and throat slashing death in San Diego in as many days, but investigators said the slayings do not appear to be connected.

The body of Marianne Jutta Amaya was discovered by her husband, Ricardo, at about 4:10 p.m. Thursday in their home on the 4100 block of Ute Drive.

“A preliminary investigation indicates the probability of a burglary in the residence because there was slight ransacking,” San Diego police spokesman Bill Robinson said.

Deputy Coroner Jack Larkie said an autopsy performed Friday showed the cause of the death to be strangulation and a neck wound.

The first strangulation and throat-slashing death reported this week occurred Wednesday, when Ann Marie Jenkins, 30, was discovered dead by her husband in their San Marcos home. The attack came eight days after the couple picked up $581,732 in winnings from the Lotto 6/49 game.

In Thursday’s attack in Clairemont, Shari Alford, 26, who lives with Amaya’s son, said a cord from an electric blanket was cut and used to strangle her boyfriend’s mother.

Alford also said a wallet containing about $5 and Amaya’s keys were taken from the house. Jewelry, including the woman’s wedding band and a couple of bracelets, was taken from the home along with some porcelain figurines.

Amaya was born in Germany and most of her relatives still live there, Alford said. She was married twice and had two sons--Fred Manfred, 31, a construction worker, and Alford’s boyfriend, Michael Dillon, a truck driver. Amaya had lived in Clairemont 11 years.

“All she ever did was worry about her sons,” Alford said.

Lt. Bill Baxter of the Sheriff’s Department homicide detail said Friday that the motive for Jenkins’ slaying has yet to be determined; investigators have no suspects. He said, however, that robbery is not considered a motive in the San Marcos woman’s death.

“There are some general characteristics (between the two crimes) that are familiar or similar,” he said. “We, nor the San Diego Police Department, have directly linked them.”

Robinson said San Diego homicide detectives and sheriff’s homicide investigators will meet next week to discuss the two cases.