2 Teens Held in Fatal Beating of Elderly Man

Two teenagers were arrested Tuesday in connection with the beating death of an 81-year-old Garden Grove man during an apparent burglary last week.

Police said Sivea Logoleo, 18, and a 15-year-old, both of Santa Ana, decided to pull a burglary after Friday’s Los Amigos-La Quinta football game at Garden Grove High School. During the burglary, authorities said, the two beat to death Wilfred Ray Barnes, a retired aerospace worker, at his home in the 11500 block of Stanford Avenue in Garden Grove.

After the beating, the thieves “continued to ransack the residence, stealing various items of property,” Garden Grove Police Lt. John Woods said.

The incident shocked residents in the quiet neighborhood, where Barnes was known as a robust, muscular man who had ridden his prized motorcycle up until a few years ago.

“It’s just sad,” said Marcos Villalobos, who lives near Barnes’ home. “I don’t feel as safe now.”

Ted Hazard, a neighbor for 45 years, said, “It’s still a good neighborhood.” He described the suspects as “a couple of kids gone haywire. Nothing has happened in this neighborhood that couldn’t happen somewhere else.”

Police said Barnes was feeling ill and went to bed about 7 p.m. Friday. But later, he apparently surprised the intruders, who may have come in through an open window.

Barnes’ 83-year-old wife, Georgia--who sleeps without her hearing aid--found him a few hours later when she got up to use the bathroom, police said. Paramedics responded at 10 p.m. to a call that Barnes had suffered a heart attack. But when paramedics arrived, they saw wounds that they suspected had been caused by a beating, and they notified the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

“We won’t elaborate on the types of wounds,” Woods said, “but we will say he suffered trauma to the upper body.”

Sheriff’s investigators found evidence at the scene that led them to the teenagers, Woods said. While serving arrest warrants this week, he said, they found property believed to have been stolen from the Barnes home.

Logoleo was booked Tuesday at Orange County Jail on suspicion of murder, authorities said, and was being held in lieu of $250,000 bail.

The 15-year-old was booked at Orange County Juvenile Hall, also on suspicion of murder. Prosecutors are expected to ask that he be tried as an adult.

Neighbors said the elderly couple’s four grown children came to the house Monday, packed their mother’s belongings and took her to another location.

Times staff writer Steve Ball contributed to this report.