MOORPARK : Trial Scheduled for Man in Wife’s Death

A March 29 trial date was set Wednesday for a 38-year-old Moorpark man charged with murdering his wife and dumping her body in the mud along a rural road.

James Michael Linkenauger pleaded not guilty to the murder charge in his first Superior Court appearance since the Ventura County grand jury indicted him last week. He earlier pleaded not guilty in Municipal Court.

Sheriff’s investigators contend that Linkenauger beat and strangled his wife, JoAnn, 39, in a drunken rage last month when she returned home from a weekend in Las Vegas with friends. Court papers say investigators believe that the unemployed mechanic murdered his wife at their home, then wrapped her body in a yellow bedspread and stuffed her into the trunk of her car.

Her body was dumped in a barranca just off California 118 and Somis Road, and the car was abandoned at the site.

Investigators said in court papers that they found bloodstains in Linkenauger’s home on Flory Avenue, and that they believe that the defendant tried to wash them out with bleach and detergent.

During an interview with sheriff’s investigators, Linkenauger said he did not see his wife after she returned from her trip. He said he was drinking heavily and apparently slept through the murder, court papers say.

The documents say neighbors heard fighting and screams from the Linkenauger residence the night of the homicide, and one woman said she recognized JoAnn Linkenauger’s voice screaming for help and then saw the defendant drag his wife down the street by her hair.

Linkenauger remains in Ventura County Jail with bail set at $250,000.