Mugshots released of Pinyon Pines suspects

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.

While the Sheriff’s Department isn’t saying Wednesday what homicide they have been arrested for, court documents KESQ & CBS Local 2 have obtained, named both men as suspects in a Grand Jury Investigation that is underway in Riverside regarding the unsolved Pinyon Pines triple murder of 2006.

On September 17, 2006, 18-year-old Rebecca Friedli, her mother Vickie Friedli, 53, and her mother’s boyfriend, 55-year-old Jon Hayward, were found dead at a Pinyon Pines home.

A Riverside County Grand Jury heard testimony in the case Monday, which could finally lead to criminal indictments.

News Channel 3 & CBS Local 2 have obtained documents from the lawyer of a material witness, Javier Garcia Jr., that clearly lay out who Riverside County District Attorney investigators believe carried out the crime.

Affidavit Affidavit 2 Affidavit 3

The affidavit providing new details into the investigation was served to Javier Garcia, at his job in Nevada, according to his attorney Eduardo G. Roy. Garcia was listed in the document as one of Becky’s best friends. The document was provided to him to show why his testimony was required.

Attorney Roy said the move to serve an affidavit is required by state law for any material witness who is located out of state. Such a document is the only way to ensure that a material witness is legally obligated to appear before a Grand Jury. Otherwise such a witness would not be bound to appear.

Garcia was set to testify as a material witness on Tuesday.

Garcia’s attorney spoke to us about the case Monday. Eduardo G. Roy said Garcia is not a suspect and has never been considered a suspect in the Friedli murder investigation.

“What we want to give them [the victim’s family] is something concrete, and now that we have a sworn declaration from the Deputy District Attorney identifying the suspects, identifying the motive and identifying the manner of the killing, we now feel we have some answers to give the family,” said Roy.

Javier Garcia is now a Nevada State Corrections Officer and wants to clear his name. He said he’s been tarnished by the media and by a former sheriff’s investigator, insinuating he was involved in his friend’s murder.

According to the District Attorney’s affidavit, Becky Friedli didn’t take the death threats against her seriously.

The Denny’s server planned to go for a hike with both suspects the night she died.

The document also named a friend of that first suspect as an accomplice because the two men were together all night and they both turned off their cell phones during the time of the killings.

But their cell phone pings also placed them near the Freidli home before and after the murders.

Police recovered a Glock handgun holster and three 12-gauge shotguns from the suspect’s homes.

Those were the same models of weapons used to shoot Freidli’s mother and her boyfriend.

Investigators also took DNA evidence from the scene from a business card that matched the second suspect. That second suspect claimed he’d never been to the Friedli home in Pinyon Pines.

The affidavit said Hayward was shot in chest with a 12-gauge shotgun. Vicky Friedli was shot in the head, possibly from a Glock handgun.

Becky Friedli was found 70 feet from her home in a burning wheelbarrow. Two sets of foot prints were found near the wheelbarrow.

Javier Garcia Junior is the son of former State Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, who’s currently running for a State Senate seat.

His attorney says they’re releasing this new information now for Becky’s surviving father and sister because this new information has surfaced, identifying suspects, a motive and manner of the killing.

They hope the new information might bring the family some closure.

The suspects are expected to appear in court in Indio Thursday morning for arraignment.

Continue to follow KESQ & CBS Local 2 as more details are released from court.