Officials Tuesday revealed new details after making an arrest in the case of a human body that was found burned and dismembered near a home improvement store.
Detectives believe that the suspect, 56-year old Valentino Gutierrez, killed his wife in Pasadena, dismembered her, stuffed her body in a suitcase, left the suitcase under a freeway overpass in Cypress Park and then set the suitcase on fire before fleeing. The victim was identified as 31-year-old Tiana Alfred.
Police said detectives used security video to retrace the killer's steps from where Alfred's dismembered body parts were found burning on a dirt patch near a Home Depot parking lot Thursday to the crime scene miles away in Pasadena, where they say Gutierrez was living in a homeless shelter with his wife.
"We believe that the murder probably occurred on the 30th (of January) at some point in time, and then the body was transported on the morning of the 1st (of February) - as we indicated, just after midnight - and was set on fire somewhere around 1:30 in the morning," said Los Angeles Police Department Capt. Billy Hayes.
Investigators said the video showed the killer rode a Metro Gold Line train to the area near the Home Depot, and video showed the man on board the train with a rolling suitcase or bag containing the human remains.
On Monday detectives from the LAPD's Robbery Homicide Division searched an abandoned restaurant in Pasadena, where they said they believe Alfred had been murdered and dismembered, senior police officials told NBC4.
"It takes a lot of effort and determination by an individual, which is pretty cold," Hayes said. LAPD Chief Justin Eisenberg also revealed that Gutierrez is a "career criminal" with convictions for burglary, sexual battery, felony battery and domestic violence.
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Gutierrez remains jailed in lieu of $2.2 million bail.
