Criminal complaint alleges Fontana man killed woman with screwdriver
A murder charge was filed Monday against a Fontana man accused in the screwdriver stabbing death of a woman found in a car off the freeway in Whitewater.
Rigoberto Villanueva, 39, was being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning pending arraignment Friday at the Banning courthouse. The woman, whose name was withheld, was found Thursday in a car just off eastbound Interstate 10, west of White Water Cutoff Road. Her alleged killer was arrested the same day.
California Highway Patrol officers were dispatched to the area at 2:42 a.m. for what they initially believed was a car crash, but instead found the woman’s body — which displayed “obvious signs of trauma” — inside the vehicle, said sheriff’s Sgt. Jeff Buompensiero.
The cause of death was not released by the sheriff’s department, nor was the defendant’s connection — if any — to the victim, but the criminal complaint states that the murder weapon was a screwdriver.
May 12th, I-10 crash near Whitewater turns into homicide investigation
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department arrested a 39-year old Fontana man early Thursday morning after the California Highway Patrol was called to what was thought to be a routine crash investigation near Whitewater.
The crash was reported along eastbound Interstate 10 near the Whitewater cut-off road at about 2 a.m. Authorities said it appeared the car had traveled off I-10 and dropped down onto Tipton Road.
The sheriff’s department was called to assist at about 2:40 a.m. after CHP officers found a deceased Hispanic woman with obvious signs of trauma to her body, Deputy Armando Munoz said in a release.
CHP officers detained Rigoberto Villanueva, who was seen walking away from the scene, prior to the sheriff’s department arriving. He was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon, and inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant and he’s being held on $1 million bail at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.
Deputy Munoz said the woman’s cause of death is still under investigation and her identity is being withheld until her family is notified.
No more information will be released at this time due to the ongoing investigation. Stay with News Channel 3 and CBS Local 2 as the case moves forward.
