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Practically two years after Violet Evelyn Alberts was discovered lifeless, detectives say they’ve uncovered an intricate fraud scheme that culminated in a murder-for-hire plot concentrating on the 96-year-old, who was discovered lifeless in her Montecito dwelling.
Santa Barbara County sheriff’s detectives had already arrested 48-year-old Pauline Macareno in June 2022 on suspicion of elder abuse and fraud. However on Thursday, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Invoice Brown stated the investigation had revealed a “significantly heinous case of homicide.”
Macareno, posing as an actual property agent, used solid paperwork and fraudulent entities to achieve management of Alberts’ cash and residential in Montecito, Brown stated. However as soon as the fraud scheme was put in place, Brown stated, Macareno got here to a grim resolution.
“Within the eyes of Pauline Macareno, Mrs. Alberts was residing too lengthy,” Brown stated. “The belief was that [Alberts] would die shortly, after which [Macareno] would have obtained this dwelling by fraudulent means.”
On Thursday, Brown stated the 22-month investigation into the scheme led detectives to the arrests of three further suspects believed to have performed a job within the lethal plot.
At 96 years previous, Alberts continued to have an lively life in her Montecito group, the place Brown stated neighbors knew her for her heat and sort demeanor.
However the widow had fallen into monetary bother, depleting her financial savings and needing a method to meet day-to-day expenditures. Sooner or later, Brown stated, she got here into contact with Macareno, who was purported to be engaged on a reverse-mortgage deal for Alberts however as a substitute arrange a scheme to fraudulently achieve management of her property and residential.
On Could 27, 2022, deputies discovered Alberts in her mattress, killed by asphyxiation, he stated. A window close to the rear door of the house was shattered.
Detectives initially discovered little to no leads in what Brown referred to as a baffling “whodunit,” however investigators quickly traced a “tangled internet of economic exploitation” that led detectives to Macareno and three males.
Deputies arrested 58-year-old Harry Basmadjian of Van Nuys, 33-year-old Henry Rostomyan of Tujunga and 41-year-old Ricardo MartinDelCampo within the alleged murder-for-hire plot.
Brown wouldn’t say how Macareno knew or got here into contact with the three males however stated the investigation revealed premeditation and planning of Alberts’ killing.
Rostomyan and MartinDelCampo traveled to Montecito in an effort to survey Alberts’ dwelling, Brown stated.
Rostomyan and MartinDelCampo are being held in Santa Barbara County jail on fees of homicide and conspiracy to homicide, in accordance with jail information. Basmadjian was in federal custody on the time of his arrest in an unrelated cost.
Basmadjian, earlier than being arrested on this case, suffered a medical emergency in federal custody and has been left “incapacitated,” Brown stated.
Officers are nonetheless reviewing the case, and extra fees gainst Macareno could also be filed, Brown stated.
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