GUILTY Ca - Becky Friedli, 18, Vicki, 53, & Jon Hayward, 55, Slain, Palm Desert, 17 Sep 2006

[lstrel]

I did a search and couldn't find a thread for this family. Its a case I remembered vaguely from 2006. There isn't much out there that I can find.

Rebecca “Becky” Annaleigh Friedli was killed in a fire Sept. 17, along with her mother and her mother’s boyfriend at their Palm Desert area home. They were apparently killed before the fire.
It seemed to become a cold case very fast.
The last news story I see states they hadn't even identified the mom and boyfriend's bodies.

http://oldsite.the-signal.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=35321&format=html

 

[Marilynilpa]

Here is a new article about this triple homicide:

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-friedli-cold-case,0,4569338.story

 

[MikeMayron]

Current local news from the media and PI's can be found below.

https://www.facebook.com/HelpSolveTheBeckyFriedliMystery

Hopefully some new light will be shed on this case that can finally bring closure for all who were touched by these individules

 

[AliEastCA]

http://www.jrn.com/kmir6/news/BREAK...-in-Pinyon-Pines-Case-249650701.html?lc=Smart
TWO ARRESTED AND CHARGED IN 2006 PINYON PINES TRIPLE MURDERS

 

[bessie]

KESQ & CBS Local 2 News Staff
POSTED: 07:43 PM PDT Mar 11, 2014 - UPDATED: 10:00 AM PDT Mar 12, 2014

Riverside, Calif. - From Riverside County Sheriff's Department Public Information Officer Deputy Armando Munoz: On March 11th, 2014 at 2:14pm investigators from the Riverside County Sheriff's Department Central Homicide Division along with investigators from the Riverside County District Attorney's Office arrested Cristin Smith at the Palm Springs Airport.

Also on March 11th, 2014 at 4:09pm, investigators with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department Central Homicide Division along with officers from the California Highway Patrol arrested Robert Pape in Salton City, on Treadwell Blvd and Desert Air. Both subjects have been booked for homicide at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside.
http://www.kesq.com/news/2-men-connected-to-pinyon-pines-triple-murder-arrested/24928816?item=0

Private investigators say 18-year-old Rebecca Friedli came home to find her mom Vicki and stepdad Jon Hayward dead in the living room, with the killers still inside the house. Evidence indicates Rebecca ran out, but in the remote area of Pinyon Pines, there was no one to help. She was caught, shot, placed on a wheelbarrow and set on fire. The murderers then set the house ablaze.

Read more: http://www.myfoxla.com/story/192305...-pinyon-pines-getting-attention#ixzz2vqjDAwgK
​

The night before the murder, a former boyfriend and a friend of his had an argument with Becky at Denny's in Palm Desert, California, where she worked as a waitress. She got off work at 7pm so the argument occurred prior. From what is known the altercation was so intense that it resulted in the friend and former boyfriend being ejected from Denny's. Then of course there was the close friend who picked Becky up from her house at 8 pm (an hour after she got off work at Denny's). That close friend appeared to be the last person to see Becky alive He dropped her back at her house sometime before 1am the next day. http://www.myfoxla.com/story/24196904/two-suspects-arrested-in-seven-year-old-pinyon-pines-murders

 

[thebestinthewest]

I knew them from high school such a tragedy :/ for the longest I thought her boyfriend Jacob at the time was going to be arrested

 

[bessie]

Well, the hearings have been postponed until October due to Smith's medical issues.

---

Pinyon Pines suspect Cristin Smith has lump in chest
Colin Atagi, The Desert Sun 1:54 p.m. PDT August 1, 2014

Motion hearings were pushed back Friday for the two suspects in the 2006 Pinyon Pines triple homicide, but one of them may undergo a medical evaluation before his next court appearance.

The defense requested an MRI be performed on Cristin Smith, who already underwent medical examinations for an injury he suffered in Afghanistan while serving the U.S. Army. But now it appears he has a lump in his chest.

---

Judge orders medical test for Cristin Smith
KESQ & CBS Local 2 News Staff, [email protected]
POSTED: 04:04 PM PDT Aug 01, 2014

The attorney for Cristin Conrad Smith said the judge told him he needed to be seen by a doctor by August 8. Smith's attorney made the request because there's speculation the lump could be male breast cancer. He wants his client to undergo an MRI.

---

D.A. Paul Zellerbach ordered to appear for Pape hearing
City News Service 1:01 p.m. PDT September 15, 2014

Riverside County District Attorney Paul Zellerbach was ordered Monday to appear as a witness at a rescheduled Oct. 6 hearing on a motion to dismiss charges against one of two men accused in a 2006 triple murder in Pinyon Pines.

Zellerbach was subpoenaed by the attorney for Robert Lars Pape to appear at the hearing on the dismissal motion filed by the defense.

At a hearing Monday in Indio, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Charles Stafford ordered Zellerbach to be personally present for the hearing on the motion, which the judge rescheduled to Oct. 6 so the prosecutor could have more time to respond.

Pape's attorney, Richard Blumenfeld, contends in his dismissal motion that the prosecution's case is "entirely circumstantial and paper thin, and rests in no small part upon assumptions and suppositions as to means, motive and opportunity which do not withstand scrutiny when measured against the objective facts."

 

[bessie]

Case Recap Video

 

[thebestinthewest]

Ah I lost my response stupid app. I remember Becky as well as both of the guys arrested everyone thought it was the assemblywoman from cathedral city's son I can't remember his name or her boyfriend Jacob. I went to Palm Springs High School and the Cristian and Rob went to Palm Desert High School. It's surprisingly a small community in the desert cities everyone knows each other. It's so weird that these guys were arrested I always thought of them to be religious and the one guy Cristian was an ROTC meat head. I can think of 2 other people off the top of my head who knew Becky that have been arrested for 2 separate murders Amanda Lasby is facing murder charges from 2011 for killing her infant daughter and Brian Ogle who is facing charges from 2010-2011ish for killing his uncle http://m.kesq.com/Murder-Charges-Filed-Against-Nephew-In-Uncle-s-Killing/499102
I sincerely hope these are the right guys it's scary to think people capable of murder can be amongst everyone else. Don't worry I don't want to be an insider on this case! I know I keep you busy enough with the Belvedere/Flint case. Great job Bessie! You are truly awesome for keeping these cases going and keeping the integrity of the victims by moderating and creating new threads with thorough updates.

 

[PastTense]

The Riverside County District Attorney's Office dismissed charges against Cristin Smith and Robert Pape on Friday morning in the 2006 Pinyon Pines triple homicide.

"Upon a closer review of the grand jury proceedings, the District Attorney's Office has determined that legal issues arose during the proceedings against defendant Pape that make it appropriate to dismiss the case at this time," according to a District Attorney's office press release.

"Although defendant Smith was held to answer after a preliminary hearing, the District Attorney's Office has concluded that it would not be appropriate to continue the criminal proceedings solely against defendant Smith so the charges against both men have been dismissed."

http://www.desertsun.com/story/news...pape-pinyon-pines-charges-dismissed/16645479/

 

[wendybtn]

They won't be hard to find later, when technology improves.

 

[azure]

Picking my jaw up off the floor. How embarrassing for LE. They make this grand gesture 8 years later, and it unravels in less than a year. I feel awful for the families and friends of the deceased.

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/crime_courts/2015/01/16/pinyon-pines-triple-homicide/21889815/

More than three months have passed since the Pinyon Pines triple murder case was abruptly dismissed by prosecutors, and as it stands today, it's unclear if the mystery will ever return to a courtroom.

New clues may arise after this weekend, when one of the Coachella Valley's most notorious murder mysteries is thrust further into the national spotlight.

A national television news program, "48 Hours," will broadcast an hourlong episode — "Murder in Pinyon Pines" — on Saturday. The show began reporting for this episode nearly a year ago, and the broadcast will include a comprehensive examination of the unsolved case.

 

[Peachykeen]

Just caught this case on 48 hours, on the ID channel. I guess there has been no new evidence in the case. As of March 2016.

 

[DropthePuck]

Robert Pape and Christian Smith have been recharged for these murders. Let's hope these 3 people get justice this time around!!

"Pape and Smith were charged with murder in 2014 but that case was dismissed. Authorities say they uncovered new evidence and re-charged the men on Wednesday. They wouldn't detail what new evidence has been gathered."

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/2-re-arrested-in-decade-old-murder-of-california-family/

 

[Tulessa]

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/2-re-ar...a-family/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab5i&linkId=25504418

 

[wendybtn]

Most of the case probably depends on how well the crime scene was searched, analyzed, if evidence was properly sampled and stored. I pray one day these three innocents will receive justice.

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

Just read through this thread....I had missed this case when it was first posted. I just watched the 48 Hours episode on YouTube and it seems so odd to me that the charges were dropped two years ago without any real explanation. Sure would like to know more about that. It seems like these two were the obvious perps....and their cell phones being turned off during the time the murders were committed certainly seems suspicious. Hope these families get justice this time around.

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.pe.com/articles/smith-805908-friedli-pape.html

An arrest warrant in the almost decade-old Pinyon Pines triple murder offers some insight into the new information, updated investigative techniques and re-examination of evidence that led prosecutors to file charges for a second time against two suspects.

The evidence includes retested DNA for refined results, jail calls where firearms are discussed, forensic cell tower analysis and identification of an anonymous caller who is now described as a key witness, according to the warrant for the arrest of Robert Lars Pape, 28, the ex-boyfriend of victim Rebecca Friedli...

While not being specific, the warrant said that a DNA lab using new technology retested “a key piece of evidence” from the murder scene, and found it was a 1-in-28-trillion match to the presence of Smith’s DNA. Smith had denied ever being at or near the scene.

 

[Niner]

:bump:

This is what I found that was the most recent - from October 24, 2016 from the Desert Sun:
http://www.desertsun.com/story/news...der-case-begins-laying-out-evidence/92678490/

In Pinyon Pines murders, the first clue was a flickering light

Summerlee was the first witness called Monday during a preliminary hearing for two suspects, Robert Lars Pape and Cristin Smith, which will determine if the triple homicide case is strong enough to move toward trial. Prosecutors spent all day calling witnesses -- police, firefighters and civilians -- to lay out foundational evidence in the case, but they never discussed anything related directly to Pape or Smith
Pape and Smith have pleaded not guilty. Testimony will continue Tuesday....
In court on Monday, prosecutors displayed photos of Becky’s charred body, lying on its back in the bucket of the wheelbarrow, with her unburnt legs dangling over the rim. Summerlee said the body was positioned differently when he first saw it – propped up inside the bucket, with its arms raised.....

Monday’s hearing also included testimony from Fire Captain Jeff Williams, who led the Pinyon Pines fire station on the night the bodies were found. Williams said his crew found the Friedli house engulfed in an “incredibly hot” fire that had turned the walls to ash and left the sheet rock foundation glowing orange.
Williams said he also found Becky Friedli’s body in the wheelbarrow. She was still burning. Firefighters doused her first, then turned their hoses on the house.
“I told one of (my crew) to squirt her with some water to preserve the evidence,” Williams said.....
Pape, a local repairman, was the teenage boyfriend of Becky Friedli. Smith, a decorated Army Ranger, was Pape’s childhood friend. .....

District Attorney Mike Hestrin has said he didn’t have confidence in the first case, which was filed by his predecessor, but that the re-filed case was based upon new and improved evidence. Court documents show that the new evidence includes:
• Jail call recordings in which Pape discusses the concealment of unregistered firearms, including a .40-caliber Glock that matches the size of weapon that killed Vicky Friedli;
• Better cell phone tracking, which places the suspects together and traveling toward Pinyon Pines before the murders;
• Improved DNA tests that match Smith to a business card found at the murder scene to a 1 to 28 trillion certainty;
• Finally, investigators now have a confidential informant who claims they overheard Smith say in 2007 he was responsible for the fire at the Friedli home.
“Something went wrong and we torched the whole f---ing place,” Smith allegedly told the informant, according to court documents.
Smith’s attorney, John Patrick Dolan, has said previously that he immediately doubts any evidence that comes from a confidential source. He petitioned Judge Bernard Schwartz to require prosecutors to identify the informant, but prosecutors said Monday they will likely call the informant as a witness, making the argument moot.....

I clicked on the Tweets link, but there is nothing after Oct. 25th. So don't know "how" to find out anymore, or when the trial is actually supposed to start, as this was just a preliminary hearing.

If anyone can help, it would very much be appreciated!

TIA!