Getaway Truck Used in Slaying Found

The truck two suspects used to flee the scene of a fatal beating and stabbing in Encinitas was found in a Carlsbad drugstore parking lot Sunday by a caller who told police he recognized the vehicle from newspaper descriptions.

The truck was driven by two juveniles who are being sought for the Tuesday slaying of Robert Pearce, 41, the Sheriff’s Department said.

Roberta Pearce, estranged wife of the victim, was arrested Saturday in connection with slaying. She and the victim were in the process of being divorced. She was being held on suspicion of murder at Las Colinas Jail for women. The Sheriff’s Department declined to speculate on the motive for the attack.

Pearce was attacked in the parking lot of the apartment complex where he lived in the 200 block of Carroll View Drive, Encinitas and repeatedly stabbed and struck with a blunt instrument.

When his attackers fled, Pearce was able to make his way back into his apartment, where he told his roommate what happened. He was taken to Palomar Memorial Hospital, where he died.