Two Found Shot Dead in Glen Avon

Riverside County sheriff’s detectives spent Tuesday searching for witnesses and clues to a shooting that left two people dead near a freeway overpass in Glen Avon, including a felon who tried to kill a Corona police officer in 1989.

Julio Rios Becerra Jr., 42, was found early Tuesday lying next to his Ford Mustang, which was in Campbell Street below the Pomona Freeway with a window apparently shot out, authorities said.

Deputies also found the body of Kara Amdahl, 22, about 150 yards from the vehicle, in a field littered with tires and piles of broken concrete and asphalt.

Investigators believe Amdahl was fleeing from the assailant when she was shot, because deputies found a trail of her belongings leading from the car to the field. Neighbors told police they heard a woman screaming “Help! Help!” at the time of the shooting.

Becerra spent 11 years in state prison after he was convicted of the attempted murder of Corona Police Officer Kurt Yinger, who in 1989 chased and fought with Becerra while investigating a car burglary.

During the scuffle, Becerra grabbed the officer’s gun and Yinger pushed the weapon away as Becerra fired.

The bullet narrowly missed the officer’s head, causing permanent hearing loss.

“He tried to kill me. He took my gun away, stuck it to my head and told me it was time to die,” said Yinger, now a decorated Corona police sergeant.

“I don’t like to hear that someone got killed, but I’m not going to lose sleep over this.... I won’t have to be looking over my shoulder now.”

Riverside County Sheriff’s Sgt. Chad Bianco said detectives investigating Tuesday’s double homicide would be interviewing the victims’ family and friends, and were tying to determine whether the slayings resulted from a drug deal gone awry.

“It’s a difficult one to explain,” Bianco said.

“Why the car stopped, the relationship of [Becerra and Amdahl], how the woman got so far away.... This doesn’t appear to be a robbery. There were no drugs in the car, and we don’t know if anyone else was in the car.”

Investigators said 10 rounds were fired. But no weapon was found in the car or the surrounding area, ruling out a murder-suicide, said sheriff’s Sgt. Earl Quinata.

A Caltrans worker in the area and several neighbors called 911 between 12:15 and 12:19 a.m., reporting gunfire around the unlighted street. No one in the area reported seeing a suspect run or drive away from the shooting scene.

“I heard a gunshot, followed pretty quickly by about five more,” said John Hogerhuis, a Campbell Street resident. “Then, within three to five minutes, I heard about five more shots.”

Along with serving time for the attempted murder, Becerra in 1997 pleaded guilty to one count of mayhem for a September 1996 incident and was sentenced to eight years in prison, according to court records and law enforcement officials.

Becerra was released from the California Institution for Men in Chino on Jan. 13, a California Department of Corrections spokesman said.

Amdahl also has had several run-ins with law enforcement. Since July 2003, Amdahl has been convicted of receiving a stolen vehicle, escaping from a Riverside County sheriff’s deputy and possession of a controlled substance.

Since February 2004, Amdahl has been charged in San Bernardino County Superior Court with possession of an opium pipe, two counts of petty theft and theft.

“We’ll be looking at every issue,” Quinata said.

“We’re also talking to their family and friends to see what was going on in their lives before this happened.”

Quinata asks anyone with information or who witnessed activity possibly related to the killings while driving on the Pomona Freeway in the area of Campbell Street early Tuesday to call the sheriff’s homicide unit at (951) 955-2777.