HONOLULU — Two men captured in Southern California and suspected of an Oahu killing were living in the victim’s house in an exclusive, gated community until neighbors complained about a stench, leading to the discovery of the homeowner’s body encased in concrete in a bathtub, police said.
U.S. Marshals and Los Angeles police found Juan Tejedor Baron, 23, hiding in a crawl space under a bench at the back of a Greyhound bus Wednesday in Anaheim, California, police said. The bus was headed for Mexico.
A 34-year-old man was also arrested but later released.
On Monday, patrol officers were sent to the home in the exclusive east Honolulu neighborhood called Hawaii Loa Ridge to check on the 73-year-old owner, who was reported missing, according to Honolulu police.
Detectives spoke with Baron, who said he lived in the home and was in a relationship with the owner, police said. He allowed police to search the home, but the owner couldn’t be found. Detectives noticed a bathtub filed with a “concrete-type substance,” Honolulu police said.
Detectives saw Baron leave with the 34-year-old man.
The next day, police returned to the home and saw that the concrete-filled tub was covered with coffee grounds, Hawaii News Now reported. As police chipped away at the concrete, they found a decomposing body.
“It is alleged that after the murder, the two suspects were living in the victim’s house and on the victim’s money until the neighbors complained about a decaying smell from the victim’s location,” Los Angeles police said in a news release.
The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s office didn’t release the man’s identity Thursday.
Marshals and Los Angeles police arrested the 34-year-old man soon after Baron was captured Wednesday. He was arrested near an intersection in Inglewood, California, police said.
According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Inmate Information Center, he was released Thursday due to insufficient grounds to file a complaint against him.
Baron was being held without bail pending extradition hearings to be returned to Honolulu to face murder charges, Los Angeles police said. It wasn’t immediately clear if has an attorney.