SIMI VALLEY : Not Guilty Plea Entered in Slaying

A 39-year-old Lake Hughes man charged with murder in the death of an unidentified man whose skeletal remains were found in a Simi Valley ravine entered a plea of not guilty Friday in Ventura County Superior Court.

Luis Roberto Benavidez has been held in lieu of $250,000 bail since Simi Valley police arrested him March 20 as he left his home on a horse ranch in rural northern Los Angeles County.

Police have not disclosed what evidence led to the charges, although Simi Valley Police Lt. Bob Klamser said in a previous interview that the slaying came after a confrontation between Benavidez and the unidentified victim.

The victim’s body was discovered by a hiker Feb. 25 in the foothills above what was formerly the Livingston Ranch, Klamser said.

Benavidez worked on the ranch for 14 years as a horse trainer, ending his employment in 1988, said defense attorney Ira S. Chester. That was around the time the confrontation took place, Klamser said.

Coroner’s investigators determined that the victim, described as a 25- to 40-year-old white or Latino male, died of two gunshot wounds to the head.

Chester criticized Deputy Dist. Atty. Donald Glynn for the seven-day delay between Benavidez’s arrest and the arraignment hearing.

Chester’s request for sanctions against the deputy district attorney was denied by Judge John K. Smiley, who also denied a request that Benavidez be released on his own recognizance.

A preliminary trial has been set for 9 a.m. April 9.