Piggy Bank Leads to Murder Suspect

A 29-year-old Texas man, convicted of strangling his ex-girlfriend nine years ago, has been arrested in the murder of a West Covina man.

Police arrested Gregory Martin Smith at 11:30 p.m. Monday in Ontario after matching his thumbprints with those found on a piggy bank stolen from the home of the victim, Ronnie Edward Everly, West Covina Police Cmdr. John Distelrath said.

Smith, who ran down an alley in an unsuccessful attempt to elude police, was wearing a necklace that belonged to Everly, Distelrath said.

Police initially had no clues in the Dec. 30 murder, which appeared to be the result of a homosexual encounter gone astray.

Everly, 57, who was well known in West Covina’s gay community, apparently met Smith on the afternoon of Dec. 30 at a health club and took Smith to his home in the 100 block of Fircroft Avenue, Distelrath said.

Everly was found dead in a back bedroom by his wife at 5:20 p.m., when she came home from work. He had been shot with a small-caliber gun. Cash, jewelry and Everly’s 1983 Buick Century were missing.

The car was found abandoned in Pomona on Jan. 8.

“Before that, we didn’t have a thing to go on,” Distelrath said.

In the car was Everly’s piggy bank, upon which were found two fuzzy thumbprints. After comparing 480 similar prints, West Covina police found a match in Smith’s fingerprints, he said.

Smith has a long history of drug use, Distelrath said. He was convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend in Killeen, Tex., by strangling her with duct tape.

After serving part of his sentence in a Texas prison, Smith was paroled to California and was required to report regularly to a parole officer. He is being held in Los Angeles County Jail for violation of parole and will be formally charged with Everly’s murder next week, Distelrath said.

The murder weapon has not been found.