Girlfriend Arrested in Death of Man Found Mutilated on I-15

Sheriff’s deputies Wednesday arrested the girlfriend of a La Mesa man whose mutilated body was found scattered on a highway in Bonsall.

For about a month, Cindy Ann Oakley, 29, had apparently tried to end a relationship with her live-in boyfriend, Charles Lee Beabout, 30, sheriff’s homicide investigators said.

A motorist found Beabout’s body early Sunday with a fatal gunshot wound in the head, the Sheriff’s Department said. The body had been zipped up in a sleeping bag and deposited on the side of southbound Interstate 15 near Gopher Canyon Road, authorities said. Parts of the victim’s arms were recovered by California Highway Patrol officers about 2 miles north, Sheriff’s Sgt. Manny Castillo said.

Deputies arrested Oakley about midnight Wednesday at the apartment she had shared with Beabout for about a year, Castillo said. Oakley was booked for investigation of murder and held without bail at Las Colinas Jail.

“Investigators did find evidence that the murder took place at the house,” Castillo said. He said bloodstains were found in the couple’s bedroom, where investigators believe Beabout was shot. The murder weapon has not been recovered, Castillo said.

“She (Oakley) had been wanting to end the relationship for a while,” Castillo said. “But it appears that it did not take place immediately. There was some back and forth. They did not make a clean break.”

Before Beabout disappeared last week, Oakley, a maid and former cab driver, would regularly berate her boyfriend for unknown causes, a next-door neighbor said.

“She would be yelling or arguing, and it seemed like he wouldn’t want to get into it, like he just wanted to walk away,” said Carol Chafee, who lived next door to the couple in the 6100 block of Stanley Drive.

In August, Chafee’s husband, Joseph, filed for a restraining order against Oakley, alleging that his neighbor had threatened to kill him and his family because of perceived wrongdoing. A Superior Court judge granted the restraining order nine days after it was filed.

Carol Chafee said Wednesday that her neighbor had been quiet of late, avoiding neighbors and seldom appearing outside the house.

Earlier this week, homicide investigators learned from Beabout’s ex-wife in Yreka that he had lived with Oakley.

Authorities found the victim’s car parked near Oakley’s apartment Tuesday, Castillo said. Oakley was suspected, he said, because she apparently had not notified authorities that her boyfriend was missing.

The San Diego County medical examiner’s office estimated Beabout’s death occurred 24 to 72 hours before his body was found 5:30 a.m. Sunday.

Whoever killed Beabout apparently did not want him to be identified, Castillo said. Detectives said Beabout’s murderer tried to conceal the man’s identity by separating parts of his arms, including fingerprints, from the body.

“This guy should’ve been missed by people who knew him,” Castillo said, “but no one called us.”