SOUTH GATE : Three Held in Robbery, Slaying of Woman, 82
Three men have been arrested on suspicion of robbing and killing an 82-year-old woman in her South Gate home this month.
Jorge Luis Sosa, 32, of Bell and Carlos Martinez Medrano, 35, who had no permanent address, told police they killed Joaquina Marie Linfor and ransacked her apartment, Sgt. Ken Gallatin of the Sheriff’s Department said. Information discovered after Medrano’s arrest Monday led investigators to Pedro Concepcion Garcia, 35, of Bell, who was arrested Tuesday morning at Liberty Boulevard Elementary School, where he worked part time as a janitor, Gallatin said.
Linfor, a onetime queen of the South Gate Azalea Festival and an active community member, lived next door to Liberty Boulevard school. She tended flower beds on the grounds and had keys to the property.
A neighbor found Linfor’s body Feb. 2 in the living room of her modest South Gate apartment, lying face-down with her hands and feet bound. Investigators said she died of asphyxiation, but would not elaborate.
“(The suspects) were under the belief that she had a lot of money and was an easy mark,” Gallatin said. “She was an old lady that lived on Social Security and she didn’t have anything at all.” No other arrests are expected.
Liberty Boulevard school officials plan to place a memorial plaque for Linfor in a flower bed she tended on the campus.
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