Suspect Arraigned in Woman’s Death

A man, accused of robbing and killing an El Cajon woman after he made romantic overtures to her, has pleaded not guilty to a series of charges including murder.

Raymond Harry Stone, 40, who will go to trial Tuesday in Superior Court on a separate burglary and grand theft case, was ordered held in lieu of $1-million bail by Municipal Judge Frank A. Brown. Brown scheduled a preliminary hearing for Oct. 30.

Stone is charged in the slaying of Anita Dalfoss, 50, whose body was uncovered in July near Lake Henshaw. She had been missing four months. He is also charged with two counts of robbery, two counts of burglary, one count of auto theft and one count of felony petty theft.

The charges involve four victims, including Dalfoss and a 73-year-old El Cajon woman, Deputy Dist. Atty. Kristin Anton said.

Dalfoss, who was a schizophrenic and a recovering alcoholic, disappeared March 14 after she told the administrator of the nursing home she lived in that she was going to dinner with a man she had met in an El Cajon bar, police said.

Anton told Brown during the Wednesday hearing that she is considering filing special circumstances allegations because Stone is suspected of committing the murder during a robbery. If convicted of murder with special circumstances, Stone could be sentenced to die in the gas chamber.

Stone, who used a number of aliases, including Nick Martinelli, was the last person to be with Dalfoss, and he was in possession of some of her jewelry when he was arrested, Anton said.

Stone, who was convicted of grand theft several years ago in Nevada, made friends with women, then stole from them after he had convinced them that he was in love, investigators said.