Husband of Northern Calif murder victim charged for explosives cache, as death probe continues

Husband of murder victim charged for explosives

PITTSBURG, Calif. — Authorities searched a Northern California landfill Friday for signs of a missing man authorities said might have been one of five murder victims linked to a suspect who was shot and killed by police after a high-speed chase.

Police believe Frederick Sales, 35, who has been missing for more than a week, may have been killed by Efren Valdemoro, who is also a suspect in the death of Sales’ father.

Valdemoro, 38, had accused the father, Ricardo Sales, 73, of interfering in his relationship with his girlfriend.

The badly beaten body of Ricardo Sales was found on Aug. 27 in his Hercules home. His son was last seen a day earlier.

Police decided to search a one-acre section of the landfill because it received trash from a business park where Valdemoro worked as a security guard. The Saleses lived nearby.

The body of Valdemoro’s girlfriend Cindy Tran was found in his car after the deadly Tuesday night pursuit that ended in a Richmond strip mall.

About two dozen police investigators and volunteer emergency responders wearing helmets, goggles and boots at the landfill inspected trash and debris as it was sifted by an excavator, said Rick King, general manager of the company that owns the site.

There was about 3,000 tons of trash to go through.

“The search is going slowly,” said Michelle Harrington, a spokeswoman for Hercules police. “Investigators want to make sure they are thorough.”

The Saleses lived in Tran’s home and were seen fighting with Valdemoro on Aug. 22. Ricardo Sales told police Valdemoro had posted a letter on his door accusing him of interfering with the relationship of Valdemoro and Tran and being a “back-stabber,” according to a police report.

Sales knocked on Tran’s bedroom door early in the morning to confront Valdemoro about the letter, and the two men began to fight. When police arrived, they found the Saleses restraining a naked Valdemoro on the floor, according to the report.

Investigators don’t have conclusive evidence that the younger Sales was dead but were discouraged to find his Toyota RAV4 without any trace of him, Harrington said. She would not say where or when the car was found.

“We do want to find Frederick Sales alive, but we do have to follow leads as they come,” she said.

Police also were investigating the connection between Valdemoro and two women whose decomposing bodies were discovered in a Vallejo house hours before his confrontation with California Highway Patrol officers in Richmond.

A white Cadillac Escalade belonging to one of the women, Segundina Allen, 63, was found in the parking lot of the business park, after Valdemoro had been seen driving it, Harrington said.

Police and friends have said Valdemoro would stay at Allen’s home on occasion, even though she and her husband had told him repeatedly that he wasn’t welcome.

The two women were reported missing last weekend. On Tuesday, officers searching the house found the bodies of Allen and her friend Marcaria Smart, 60, as well as a cache of chemicals that could be used to make bombs.

Allen’s husband Charles Rittenhouse, 72, pleaded not guilty Friday to two counts of explosive possession. He has not been arrested or charged in connection with the killings.

Outside court, defense attorney Leslie Prince explained that Rittenhouse worked as a chemist and said he had no malicious intent. She did not say what the chemicals were intended for.

Prince said Rittenhouse was not involved in the deaths of the two women.

“He had no motive to do it,” she said, adding that he’s physically incapable of such acts because he has problems walking.

Collins reported from Fairfield.