Ransom Note Came in Montana Cattleman’s Death : Crime: Ranch hand being held in connection with a 1986 O.C. slaying is called one of the prime suspects.

The wife of an internationally known cattleman got a ransom note demanding $1 million after her husband disappeared, authorities have disclosed. He was found shot to death two days later.

Wayne Stevenson, 51, was reported missing Sunday evening after he failed to return from feeding cattle. His body was found near a shed Tuesday. He had been shot several times, Sheriff Steve Knecht said.

A ranch hand, David Llamas Blake, emerged as a leading suspect when authorities discovered an outstanding murder warrant for him from Orange County, while investigating Stevenson’s disappearance.

“And we expect him to remain one of our prime suspects, but we’re still not sure how many or if there were any others involved,” Knecht said.

Blake, 32, of Corona was wanted in the 1986 slaying in Irvine of a 26-year-old Mexican who apparently failed to pay Blake a $700 fee for smuggling his wife and children across the border.

Blake is being held on $250,000 bail; he has not been charged in the Stevenson case.

“We presented enough evidence for his arrest for murder in 1986 and haven’t been able to locate him,” said Irvine police Lt. Sam Allevato. “Obviously, this is very helpful for us. Now . . . we can bring him back and hold him accountable for this murder.”

Blake had worked at Stevenson’s Basin Angus Ranch for about a year.

Stevenson, his brother Keith and other family members operate three sprawling ranches in central Montana, marketing cattle, semen and embryos. The Stevenson Basin Inc. sale in December netted a record $2.7 million, livestock industry officials said.

The ransom note received by Marian Stevenson brought the FBI into the investigation, officials said Wednesday.