A man accused of forcing his way into a Murrieta home and attacking the senior couple inside, fatally stabbing the man with a screwdriver and injuring the woman before fleeing the property, was charged Friday with first-degree murder and other offenses.
Manuel Arturo Alvarez, 36, of Modesto, was arrested Wednesday following a Murrieta Police Department investigation on Old Spring Road, near Dove Hollow Lane.
Along with murder, Alvarez was charged with attempted murder, resisting arrest and two counts of brandishing a weapon not in self-defense, as well as sentence-enhancing allegations of using a knife in the commission of a felony.
The defendant, who was being held without bail at the Byrd Detention Center, was slated to make his initial court appearance Friday at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta.
According to the Murrieta Police Department, shortly after 8 a.m. Wednesday, the victims were in their residence when Alvarez allegedly forced his way into the house.
Police Capt. Jeremy Durrant alleged the defendant was wielding a screwdriver and stabbed both victims, inflicting a mortal wound to the head of the 70-year-old property owner, identified in court documents only as “R.B.” His spouse, identified only as “C.P.,” was injured but managed to call 911 after the assailant fled out the back door, Durrant said.
He said Alvarez allegedly ran into a ravine before patrol officers converged on the location.
R.B. was taken to a regional trauma center for treatment of her wounds. Her husband was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.
Officers immediately initiated a search for the defendant, deploying a K9 unit to find him, according to the captain. Roughly a half-hour later, personnel “located the male in the ravine behind a nearby residence on Wild Flower Drive,” Durrant said.
“The male failed to comply with officers’ commands and concealed himself in bushes,” Durrant said. “After several minutes of unsuccessful attempts to gain compliance, the K-9 was deployed to assist in apprehending the male. He was quickly taken into custody.”
Alvarez suffered minor injuries during the confrontation with the canine and was treated before he was transported to jail Wednesday afternoon. No officers were hurt.
A possible motive for the attack was not disclosed.
The woman remained hospitalized Friday in stable condition.
Alvarez has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.