Colton Man Questioned in Killings of 19 Women in Riverside County

A Colton man arrested for a parole violation was being questioned Monday in the serial killings of 19 Riverside County women, and a task force on the murders scheduled an announcement about the investigation at a news conference today.

Riverside County Sheriff’s Detective Henry Sawicki, spokesman for the 14-member task force, would not say whether the man is a prime suspect. But he said the man gave useful information and that a significant development will be reported at the news conference--the first such briefing to be held by the task force formed last April.

“He is not under arrest for anything relating to the serial killings at this point,” Sawicki said. “For now, you’ll have to draw your own conclusions.”

KNBC-TV in Los Angeles on Monday night identified the suspect as Bill Suff, and said he was on parole from Texas. The station reported that the man had confessed to some of the murders.

Asked about the KNBC report, Sawicki said: “That’s ridiculous. It’s news to me.”

The 41-year-old man, whose name was not released, was arrested Friday by a Riverside traffic officer for investigation of a parole violation in Texas. Quoting an unnamed source, the Hemet News reported that Riverside police--who are represented on the task force--believe he may be a prime suspect in the grisly killings.

Sawicki would say only that the man is one of “more than 100 people we’ve talked to during the course of this investigation.”

The slayings began in 1986 and have rattled the suburban calm of the Inland Empire, a place where many families have fled to escape urban-style crime as well as high housing costs more common in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

All of the murdered women had histories of prostitution and drug use. Their bodies were dumped--some naked, some stabbed, some strangled--along freeways, on hillsides and in alleys not far from churches and tract homes.

Seven victims were found in Lake Elsinore, four in Riverside. The rest were scattered throughout the western reaches of the rapidly growing county.

The latest victim was Eleanor O. Casares, 39. Her body was discovered two days before Christmas by orange pickers in a citrus grove about half a mile from the Riverside police station.

At the time, detectives expressed hope that Casares’ death might provide a break in their investigation. Unlike most of the other victims, she had not been dead long before her body was noticed.

Despite a 24-hour hot line and an $11,000 reward for information leading to the killer’s arrest, the investigation has yielded few hopeful developments. Last week, a man arrested in Corona was questioned about the killings, but Sawicki said he was classified by detectives as a “person of interest and is not considered a suspect at this time.”