Police Attack Laguna Slaying Suspect’s Alibi : Investigation: They question credibility of claims man was in Oregon at time of robbery spree.

Detectives on Thursday questioned the credibility of alibis for Manuel Ramirez Rodriguez, the 25-year-old parolee suspected of killing an ice cream shop owner here last month.

Investigators said they were preparing their murder case against Rodriguez, who appeared briefly in court to face separate charges for a Tustin robbery. Laguna Beach police expect to turn over the murder case to the Orange County district attorney’s office today, Police Chief Neil J. Purcell Jr. said.

Laguna Beach police also began interviewing some of Rodriguez’s family members and friends who contend the former Santa Ana gang member was in Chiloquin, Ore., at the time of the Feb. 20 slaying.

“We are working hard to dispute those alibis,” Lt. Danell Adams said. “Although I can’t give any details, I am even more confident today that those alibis will be disputed. We could be wrong, but I doubt it.”

Before his court appearance in Santa Ana, Rodriguez spoke with an attorney with the public defender’s office and denied any involvement in the shooting of 53-year-old Simindokht Roshdieh during a holdup at her Baskin-Robbins store in downtown Laguna Beach.

“He is emphatically denying any involvement whatsoever in any of these cases,” said Deputy Public Defender Robert Knox.

Rodriguez’s case has not yet been assigned to a lawyer, Knox said. An arraignment hearing on the Tustin robbery charges was postponed until April 14 in Municipal Court in Santa Ana.

Rodriguez, a former Santa Ana gang member with a string of criminal convictions, was arrested Sunday in the tiny Oregon town on a warrant stemming from a Feb. 20 robbery at a Tustin ice-cream shop the same night as the Laguna Beach killing.

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As he worked behind the counter of his parents’ ice cream shop Thursday, the son of Simindokht Roshdieh gave two “thumbs up” at the mention of Rodriguez’s arrest.

“I’m happy as hell,” said Nick Roshdieh, who said people were streaming into the shop Thursday to talk about the arrest.

The son said he was skeptical about those who offered alibis for Rodriguez.

“They can get in trouble for housing a fugitive,” he said. “If I were them, I’d just be quiet.”

Tustin police also continued to discount alibis offered by Rodriguez’s friends and relatives that he was 750 miles away in Oregon at the time of the Feb. 20 crime spree.

“We have evidence to say he was here,” said Tustin Police Sgt. Mike Pettifer, who declined to detail the evidence.

But family members of Rodriguez’s girlfriend, Janet Samson, continued to maintain Thursday that Rodriguez was living in their home in Chiloquin.

“Why would we lie?” asked Samson’s 21-year-old niece, Samantha Robinson. “Murder is a serious crime that you don’t want to be messing with. He was here, I know he was here. The police are just blaming him because they want to close the case.”

Rodriguez waived extradition to California and was booked into Orange County Jail on Wednesday. He is also suspected of two robberies on Feb. 20, of a flower shop and a music store in Costa Mesa, and is a suspect in three armed robberies in Riverside during a four-day span in January.

In addition, authorities have described Rodriguez as a suspect in robberies in Redondo Beach and Hawthorne.

Purcell said he is considering sending detectives to Oregon to interview Samson and others about the case and their contention that he was with them when the Feb. 20 Orange County crime spree took place.

The slaying of Simindokht Roshdieh sent shock waves through Laguna Beach. The victim’s 63-year-old husband, Firooz, was wounded during the suspected robbery attempt, which occurred as the couple were closing their ice cream shop about 9:30 p.m.

Investigators were frustrated in their efforts to solve the crime until a break in the case was provided by “confidential reliable sources,” Purcell said.

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Riverside police said Thursday that Rodriguez is a suspect in three holdups in that city in January.

“I’ve got (Rodriguez) identified for committing three armed robberies,” said Riverside robbery Detective Bob Hathaway.

The first robbery occurred Jan. 12 when Rodriguez allegedly confronted at knifepoint a woman and her 2-year-old child as they walked along La Sierra Avenue, police said. The robber demanded money. She gave him $5, then the man allegedly twisted the child’s arm in a successful attempt to get more money from the woman, Hathaway said.

On Jan. 14, Rodriguez is suspected of robbing a drive-through dairy of $215. Police said he threatened the clerk with a sawed-off rifle.

The next day, investigators allege, Rodriguez used a rifle to rob a Texaco gasoline station and escaped with $500. The station attendant was apparently successful in wrestling the weapon away from the gunman, authorities said.

“We recovered the rifle, which was left at the scene of the service station robbery,” Hathaway said.

On March 20, Riverside police issued a warrant for Rodriguez’s arrest in connection with those robberies.

“I can’t say whether (Rodriguez) is involved in crimes in other cities or not,” Hathaway said. “We are being sensitive to the needs of the other police departments just as we hope they are being sensitive to ours.”

Times correspondent Leslie Earnest contributed to this story.