Couple Arrested in Slaying of Car Dealer : Investigation: Authorities say there is little doubt that Tony Bridges led two lives. Tests show traces of cocaine in his body.

A Santa Paula woman with a history of drug and petty theft arrests and a 20-year-old Oxnard man who was her frequent companion have been arrested as suspects in the slaying of Santa Paula auto dealer Tony Bridges, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department disclosed Wednesday.

Booked on suspicion of murder was Veronica Lira, 26. Also arrested Tuesday evening was John Leivas, who was booked on suspicion of being an accessory to murder.

Sheriff’s Cmdr. Vincent France said they were apprehended without incident and were being held without bail Wednesday at Ventura County Jail.

Despite the two arrests, the investigation into the December slaying of the 45-year-old Bridges is not over, said France, who supervises sheriff’s detectives.

“We’re still right in the middle of the investigation, and it could go in a lot of different directions,” he said.

France said that from what sheriff’s detectives have uncovered so far, there is now little doubt that Bridges led two lives.

“One life he was a highly respected businessman. In the other life he associated with people of dubious character,” France said.

In an interview, a member of Bridges’ family, who requested anonymity, said it was common knowledge among family members that Bridges had been using cocaine for years.

In May, 1990, Bridges was arrested by Oxnard police in the city’s La Colonia neighborhood and was booked on suspicion of being under the influence of cocaine and of carrying a concealed weapon, a derringer. However, he was never charged by the county prosecutor.

Bridges’ 1989 white Chevrolet Cavalier was recovered by authorities in La Colonia Dec. 27, the day after his nude body was discovered by a farm worker in a cilantro field in El Rio, an unincorporated area next to Oxnard. He had been missing for about a week.

The La Colonia area has a history of being frequented by both cocaine dealers and drug users, according to Oxnard narcotics detectives.

Bridges’ auto was found on Hayes Avenue, a street with a reputation as a wide-open drug market.

In addition to announcing the arrests of Lira and Leivas, France disclosed Wednesday that toxicological tests conducted by the sheriff’s laboratory found traces of cocaine in Bridges’ body.

Sheriff’s investigators declined to discuss details about the backgrounds of the two suspects or the events that led to their arrests. However, acquaintances of Lira in Oxnard said she recently was attempting to start a dance business that, according to her business card, was called Wild Thing Erotic Dancers.

Veka was the name she placed on a business card, which identified her as the owner, and she recently had Veka tattooed on her arm, said an acquaintance who requested anonymity. The same source also said Bridges had invested $1,000 in Lira’s dance business.

Sheriff’s Lt. Joe Harwell said Lira and Veka were the same person.

Lira was arrested by sheriff’s officers in March, 1986, and was placed on 36 months of probation after pleading guilty to a charge of petty theft for stealing a $2.75 box of candy from an Oxnard stationery store, according to court records.

In July, 1991, she was arrested by Oxnard police for possession of 12 doses of LSD and was placed in a county diversion program for first-time drug offenders, according to records.

Both suspects were questioned for about two hours Tuesday night, France said. Lira was arrested at a residence in Santa Paula and Leivas was arrested at a service station in Port Hueneme.

He said an informant led detectives to the two suspects, but declined to elaborate.

“We certainly think we have people who were involved in the homicide,” France said.

Sheriff’s investigators still have not recovered the murder weapon. According to a law enforcement source, it is a .22-caliber handgun from which two bullets were fired. Both struck Bridges in the heart.

Also, detectives are not yet sure where the slaying occurred, France said.

“We have recovered some of Bridges’ property,” he said, but declined to elaborate. According to another source, Bridges’ watch and ring were among the property that was recovered.

While court records showed an arrest record for Lira, there was no history of arrests of Leivas, who had worked as a gas station attendant at the USA Petroleum station in Port Hueneme.

“He was very nice, very honest; never caused a problem,” said Valery Valencia, manager of the station. “He used to help old ladies pump gas.”

Valencia said Wednesday that Leivas met Lira while working at the station and that the two would frequently get together after work. Leivas was employed at the station for two years at the time of his arrest, she said.

Lira worked at the station in April and May of last year, she said. Lira’s uncle, Felipe Munoz of Ventura, described his niece as “well-behaved,” and said she worked for a time in a pizza restaurant in Santa Paula.

A Port Hueneme woman who described herself as an exotic dancer told The Times Wednesday that she knew Lira and Leivas and had frequently entertained Bridges at his Santa Paula home.

The woman, who requested anonymity, said she met Bridges about a year ago when she was sent to his home by her agency.

Bridges, who had been divorced three times, lived alone in a Spanish mission-style house on Say Road in a pretty area of Santa Paula called The Oaks.

“He was so sweet,” the exotic dancer said. “I didn’t even have to dance for him. We just talked. He would show me porno videos. He was just really gentle and nice.”

Bridges always carried a gun, she said.

“Tony did a lot of coke,” she said. “I used to tell him, ‘Tony, you’re such a sweet man, you’re going to kill yourself.’ I would tell him to go to AA. He said he’d been through all that.

“I didn’t think he would be murdered. I thought the drugs would kill him.”

Times staff writer Gary Gorman contributed to this story.