Police Say Ex-Con Is Ice Cream Shop Killer : Crime: Investigators say former Santa Ana gang member arrested in Oregon tried to alter his appearance. They plan to charge him with murder in first Laguna Beach robbery-slaying in 27 years.

Police investigating last month’s slaying of an ice-cream shop owner said Wednesday they will seek murder charges against an ex-convict who authorities accused of fleeing to Oregon and attempting to disguise himself by tweezing his eyebrows and gaining weight.

Police announced their plans to charge Manuel Ramirez Rodriguez, 25, of Corona shortly after he appeared in a lineup in front of witnesses to the fatal armed robbery Feb. 20 at a Baskin-Robbins store in Laguna Beach, including the victim’s husband, who was severely wounded in the attack.

The slaying rocked the beachside town, which had not seen a robbery end in a killing in 27 years.

Rodriguez, a former Santa Ana gang member with a string of criminal convictions, was arrested Sunday in tiny Chiloquin, Ore., on a warrant stemming from a robbery at a Tustin ice-cream shop the same night as the Laguna Beach killing. Rodriguez waived extradition to California and was booked into Orange County Jail on Wednesday.

Authorities said Rodriguez, whose many tattoos helped police identify him as a suspect, also is suspected in armed robberies earlier Feb. 20 at flower and music shops in Costa Mesa, along with a recent robbery and theft in Riverside County.

“We feel confident that this is the subject,” Laguna Beach Police Chief Neil J. Purcell Jr. said. “It has been our position for some time that this is the person who is responsible for the robbery-homicide.”

But Rodriguez’s friends and family members Wednesday loudly proclaimed his innocence, saying he was 750 miles away in rural Chiloquin at the home of his girlfriend’s mother at the time of the crime spree and does not match the killer’s description.

They said said Rodriguez left his home in Corona and drove to Oregon with his girlfriend, Janet Samson, and their 9-month-old son Isaac on Feb. 15--five days before the robberies and Laguna Beach slaying. Samson’s brother said the couple arrived in Chiloquin that night, and Rodriguez stayed.

“I never saw him leave Chiloquin,” said Ronald Samson.

Friends and relatives also maintain Rodriguez does not fit the description of the armed robber caught on surveillance videotape during the Tustin holdup and later broadcast on television. They said, for example, that he does not have certain tattoos that witnesses described, including a teardrop under his right eye and Old English-type script on his neck.

Purcell said police are checking on Rodriguez’s alibi. “The last thing we want is to have the wrong person in custody,” he said.

But he said Rodriguez may have disguised himself by wearing false tattoos during the Laguna robbery. Purcell said Rodriguez has a prominent mole on his cheek and tattoos similar to those that witnesses had described to police.

A tattoo on his neck that says his girlfriend’s name “Janet” resembles the one witnesses saw, Purcell said.

“This subject does not have a teardrop tattoo,” Purcell said, “but it’s not too uncommon. . . . Gang investigators have been finding out that gang members are altering their appearances.”

Purcell added, “And, there is other evidence linking him to the case,” but did not elaborate.

Police said Rodriguez apparently tried to alter his appearance by plucking his thick brows, shaving a mustache and gaining weight noticeably.

After the slaying, the suspect was described as a Latino male 19 to 23 years old with bushy eyebrows and the teardrop and neck tattoos.

Store owner Simindokht Roshdieh, 53, was killed and her 63-year-old husband, Firooz, was wounded in the suspected robbery attempt as the couple were closing their Broadway ice cream shop about 9:30 p.m.

Investigators were frustrated until about two weeks ago, when Laguna Beach police “developed leads from confidential reliable sources” that led them to Rodriguez, Purcell said.

Police found he had an extensive criminal record--serving two prison stays for felony offenses that included robbery--and wanted since January for not reporting to his parole officer.

Investigators learned Rodriguez might be in Oregon.

An episode of “America’s Most Wanted” featuring the Tustin and Laguna Beach robberies aired on March 18 and minutes later a woman from Portland, Ore., called the show to say she had met a man in Portland who resembled the suspect shown on the program.

Laguna Beach investigators visited the woman March 20, the same day Tustin officers obtained an arrest warrant for Rodriguez in connection with the robbery in their city.

He was arrested Sunday in Chiloquin, a rural enclave of 750 residents that is one of the poorest communities in Oregon.

Purcell said police would ask prosecutors today to charge Rodriguez with murder, attempted murder and robbery.

Prosecutors declined to discuss the case Wednesday.

Purcell said Firooz Roshdieh, the surviving husband, and other robbery witnesses viewed Rodriguez and five other men in the lineup, but the chief would not say whether they positively identified Rodriguez.

Roshdieh “is still very traumatized over this,” Purcell said. “Hopefully, this will bring some closure for the entire family.”

Correspondent Wendy Culverwell in Chiloquin, Ore. contributed to this report.