NEWPORT BEACH : Robbery Suspected in Cabin Slaying Case

Robbery is suspected as the prime motive in the slaying of a Newport Beach woman who was shot to death at a secluded mountain resort her family owns on the edge of Sequoia National Forest, Tulare County sheriff’s deputies reported Thursday.

Investigators released a composite sketch and description of the suspect after interviewing the survivor of the attack, which occurred about 3:20 a.m. Sunday inside a log cabin at Camp Nelson Lodge in the southern Sierra Nevada.

Bonnie J. Hood, 46, was shot once in the head with a pistol inside her quarters at the resort. Rudy Manuel, 35, the lodge’s caretaker, was also wounded in the head, but managed to contact a telephone operator.

Manuel, who is expected to recover, was listed in stable condition Thursday at Valley Medical Center in Fresno.

Deputies described the assailant as a stocky Caucasian male, 30 to 35 years old, about 5 feet, 6 inches to 5 feet, 8 inches tall, and weighing 200 pounds. He has curly blond hair down to the collar and a thin mustache.

Sgt. John Zapalac said robbery appeared to be the main motive, although a team of detectives has not been able to determine if anything was stolen from the lodge. He downplayed reports that disputes between some Camp Nelson residents and Hood had anything to do with the slaying.

Neighbors of the lodge and members of the Hood family have said that some residents opposed plans to expand the resort, while some of the lodge’s more rowdy patrons were unhappy recently about being thrown out of the restaurant and bar.

Hood’s son, James Jr., also said that several weeks ago a threatening note was fastened to the windshield of his mother’s car.

Zapalac said there was no indication that Hood or Manuel knew their attacker or had seen him before the shooting.

Hood and her 47-year-old husband, James N. Hood, a real estate salesman, bought the 43-acre resort in 1987 and reopened the lodge after it had been closed for eight years.

Its rustic restaurant and bar soon became a popular hangout for locals from Camp Nelson, a small mountain community of less than 200 permanent residents 34 miles east of Porterville.

Hood and her family had been refurbishing the grounds, which included a stone and timber lodge built in 1926, a store built in 1903, a 10-room motel constructed in 1961 and a dozen log cabins from the 1940s.

Anyone with any information about the suspect is encouraged to call the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department at (209) 733-6218. Ask for Sgt. Zapalac or Det. Gene Pinon.