YORBA LINDA : December Slaying Still Baffles Police

One day after Arlene Hoffman’s son offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to her killer, law enforcement officials said Thursday the case has yet to yield any solid suspects or a motive.

Hoffman, who was secretary to Orange County Supervisor Jim Silva, bled to death in the foyer of her Laguna Niguel home last December after being shot in the chest with an arrow. There were no signs of forced entry and nothing appeared to have been taken from the house.

“It’s been a very difficult investigation,” Sheriff’s Lt. Dan Martini said Thursday. “The woman had a very strict and clean life. There’s nothing in the closet that might help us.”

Martini said investigators have contacted more than 70 people for questioning.

“I know that it’s still a very open file,” he said. “They pretty much have exhausted any physical evidence.”

Hoffman’s son, 25-year-old Charles Hoffman of Yorba Linda, announced the $25,000 reward late Wednesday, saying he will use a portion of the money he inherited from his slain mother as a lure to find her killer.

Anyone with information about Hoffman that could be useful to the investigation should call Orange County Sheriff’s detectives Hans Strand or Bob Blackburn at (714) 647-7045.

Charles Hoffman, who lost his father to cancer nine months before his mother was killed, offered the reward independent of law enforcement officials. He said sheriff’s officials were not receptive to the idea of a reward a few months ago, saying they didn’t think it would do much good. Martini said such rewards can “create work” that often leads nowhere for detectives.

“People start crawling out of the woodwork who see the dollar sign,” he said.