Suspect in ’88 Tustin Arson, Slaying Held

A 45-year-old man arrested on suspicion of gruesomely burning his girlfriend in Kansas also is a suspect in the 1988 murder of a Tustin woman who was strangled and torched in a similar manner, police said Friday.

James L. Brandon

Tustin police arrested James Louis Brandon, 45, in Inglewood Thursday morning in connection with the attempted murder of his girlfriend in Topeka, Kan., last year. He has been wanted by Tustin and Kansas police for two arson attacks, one of them the killing of Tustin resident Rachel Sugarman, Tustin Police Investigator Pat Welch said.

Sugarman, 37, was found strangled and burned July 19, 1988, at her Tustin apartment on Newport Avenue, officials said. Firefighters responded to the morning alarm and discovered her charred body on a bedroom floor. A telephone cord was wrapped around her neck, Welch said.

Tustin police are seeking murder and arson charges against Brandon, Welch said. Kansas authorities next week also are expected to request Brandon’s return. Officials from both states would sort out which case would be handled first.

Investigators determined Sugarman was strangled, doused with a flammable liquid and set ablaze in her bedroom, Welch said. But few clues in the slaying turned up until June 1995, when detectives learned of a similar arson case earlier that year in Topeka, Welch said.

In that case, Brandon, who was living with his girlfriend, Laura Vaughn, allegedly dragged her into the garage where “he dumped a fire accelerant on her and lit it,” said Lt. Patti Kaeberle of the Topeka Police Department. Vaughn suffered burns over 70% of her body but survived.

The crime landed Brandon on Kansas’ “Most Wanted” list, Kaeberle said.

Kansas authorities sought Brandon on attempted murder charges but he fled before he could be arrested, Kaeberle said. Tustin police later heard of the Kansas incident through a national crime bulletin and drew parallels between the cases.

Further investigation showed that Brandon had ties to California. Several addresses turned up, including the Cosmopolitan Apartments in Tustin, where Sugarman was killed. Brandon had lived there from 1987 to 1989. The information prompted Tustin police to pursue him as a suspect, Welch said.

It remained unclear Friday whether Brandon had any kind of relationship with Sugarman, Welch said.

Originally from Kansas, Brandon married in California, where three of his children now live, Welch said.

He later separated from his wife and traveled around various states, working as a telephone repairman.

Records showed a drug-related arrest in Tustin in 1989, Welch said. After the Topeka incident, police believe Brandon moved back to Orange County under a false identity, Welch said.

Rachel Sugarman

When Brandon was identified as a possible suspect in the Tustin murder, detectives worked around the clock to locate him, police said.

“It’s been a difficult case from Day One,” Welch said. “With the reluctant witnesses, it’s been very difficult to extract any information . . . .” Tustin police tried to track him in other states and, while checking a purported address for him in Inglewood, spotted him Tuesday on a residential street where he was arrested.

Shortly after the arrest, Sugarman’s mother, Jean Cerroni, was informed, giving her hope that her daughter’s killer may finally have been found.

“I’m a very happy woman this morning, very thankful,” Cerroni said Friday from her Wyoming home. “It was a heinous crime that left very few clues for the detectives.”

Cerroni, a retired fashion consultant, said her daughter was born and raised in Wisconsin. She came to California after marrying a Marine who had been stationed at the Marine Corps Air Station at Tustin, Cerroni said. She later divorced and stayed in Tustin.

At the time of her death, Cerroni said that her daughter was studying to be a medical technician and was engaged to another Marine.

Tustin police are still investigating Sugarman’s death and seek the public’s help.

“We’re hoping that after apprehending Brandon . . . people will be more comfortable in coming forward,” Welch said.

Calls can be made to Investigator Pat Welch at (714) 573-3289.