Part 2:
After getting the 911 call, as they were already on scene, Redlands PD immediately locked down the property/community/area and began searching for Sparks.
Part 3 of RPD Chief / DA presser.
Opens it for Q&A about 6 minutes in.
Q:
Has coroner positively ID'd remains yet? Is there any possibility there are remains in addition to Dan & Stephanie
A (RPD Chief): I don't know if the coroner has positively ID'd the remains. I don't have any reason to believe there are other remains, but again, I'd have to defer that question to them (CO's office)
Q: Is there any reason to believe there could be other victims?
A (RPD Chief): I have no reason to believe that.
Q: Were the bodies fully intact? Or can you talk about condition?
A (RPD Chief): As this is an on-going investigation, I'm not going to speak to that at this time.
Q: Were there any weapons found in the basement?
A (RPD Chief): Again, based on the fact that this is an on-going investigation I'm not going to comment on that.
Q: Do you have any idea if he said anything? Or has he said what happened? Do we know if he killed them immediately on Saturday? Or how long were they down there?
A (RPD Chief): Again, as I said, this is an on-going investigation and so I can't comment on that at this point in time.
(Gets interrupted and asked like if they know and she can't comment or they don't know).
A: Again, this is still an on-going investigation at this time.
Q: Maybe this is a better question for the DA then. Why would you put the charge with special circumstances if you don't have any information on exactly what happened?
A: Well, we know they are dead. And we know that there are two victims. And so the special allegation that we filed is multiple victims in a murder case.
Every murder case is serious, but we've always felt that in certain circumstances, and certainly in this circumstance, where you find 2 people under the home of the suspect, that is appropriate for multiple victims in terms of special circumstances.
You know, we have a saying, and I don't say it lightly, but I want to say it clearly, that you don't get a free murder. And in this case, we believe that we can go forward and prove that Mr. Sparks is responsible for both, and so that's why the special allegation.
So it's sort of aside from the questions you were asking earlier, in terms of why and how, we do know we have 2 dead folks, and so that's why the allegation is there.
Q: Can you, as much as you can, sort of describe that subterranean area and describe where the bodies were and was that area newly built?
A (DA): I don't believe it was newly built. Essentially what you have is a sort of homemade basement area underneath a structure. So in some regards that's unusual, but in other regards, it's that person's parcel and they can do what they want with it.
And so I believe that was the concern about anything structurally that might happen. I mean, who knows how well it was built, but that was the condition that LE met when they started to find the bodies.
Q: Has Michael Sparks been cooperative with the investigation?
A (DA): I'm not going to comment on anything that he may or may not have done. They made an arrest on Thursday and we're proceeding with the charges.
Q: When you first spoke when you opened this presser, you described this as a "very unusual case," what makes you say that?
A (DA): Because you have a community that you have, for all intents and purposes, as we've seen throughout the week, is a very tight-knit community, obviously people were very concerned about the Menards, there have been vigils that were held there.
But when you look at the circumstances, of an elderly couple, when you look at it, it was certainly a sign of trouble that they were not where they were expected to be by their loved ones on a Sunday, and then you find their remains underneath a house in the same community. A double murder of elderly people by a 62 year old defendant, that's pretty unique.
(Part 4 coming)
