SIMI VALLEY : Man, 39, Arrested in Fatal Shooting
A 39-year-old Lake Hughes man being held at the main Ventura County Jail is suspected of killing a man whose skeletal remains were found in a Simi Valley ravine last month, police said Monday.
Luis Roberto Benavidez was arrested Friday as he left his home on a horse ranch in rural northern Los Angeles County, Simi Valley Police Lt. Bob Klamser said.
Benavidez’s arrest was the culmination of a lengthy investigation during which detectives determined that the slaying followed a 1988 confrontation between Benavidez and the victim, who has not yet been identified, Klamser said.
Coroner’s investigators determined that the victim, described as a 25- to 40-year-old white or Latino male, died of gunshot wounds to the head.
The killing occurred on a ranch in the 400 block of Tierra Rejada Road, Klamser said. The ranch has since been razed to prepare for development, he said.
The victim’s body was buried in a ravine in the foothills above the ranch and was discovered by a hiker Feb. 25 after heavy rains exposed parts of the skeleton, Klamser said.
Evidence from the case is under review by the district attorney’s office, which is to decide this week what charges, if any, will be filed, Klamser said.
Benavidez is being held on $250,000 bail, Sheriff’s Sgt. Bob Larson said.
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