Prisoner Accused in Death of El Cajon Woman

A man who authorities claim picked up women in bars and then stole their money was being held on suspicion of murder Thursday in connection with the death of a 50-year-old El Cajon woman, El Cajon police said.

Raymond Harry Stone, 40, was in custody on charges of burglary and grand theft when El Cajon police added the murder charge, Lt. Robert Lein said.

The charge is in connection with the death of Anita Dalfoss, who had been missing from her El Cajon home since March 14, Lein said.

Her body and a wristwatch were discovered June 5 on the north side of Lake Henshaw by surveyors, the coroner’s office said.

A search of the area turned up other items belonging to Dalfoss, authorities said. Her remains were positively identified July 14, according to the coroner’s office.

Stone, using the name “Nick Martinelli,” was arrested June 13 by San Diego police on charges of first-degree burglary and grand theft, a County Jail spokeswoman said. He was later charged with grand theft on a person and possession of stolen property, the jail spokeswoman said.

In one instance, Stone and a waitress he knew from Las Vegas were in a Pacific Beach bar, San Diego police said. “When the woman went to powder her nose, (Stone) took off with all of her belongings,” said Bill Robinson, San Diego police spokesman.

Based on an investigation of that incident, detectives began to suspect that Stone might have victimized other “unattached females who made contact with him in cocktail lounges,” Robinson said.

Stone “befriends women in bars, develops a relationship with them and cons them out of their jewelry, money or other valuables,” Lein said.

Stone, in County Jail in El Cajon, is scheduled for arraignment on a murder charge on Friday or Monday, authorities said.

Stone will appear Aug. 22 in Superior Court on the charges of burglary and grand theft.