Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown on Thursday announced that detectives have arrested four people in connection with the May 27, 2022, murder of Violet Evelyn Alberts, 96, who was found dead in her Montecito home.
Brown said investigators believe Alberts was the victim of a murder-for-hire scheme.
“The case was revealed to be a tangled evil web of financial exploitation against the victim,” he said at a press conference Thursday at sheriff’s headquarters.
Brown revealed that Alberts’ cause of death was asphyxiation, and she was discovered in bed at her home on the 900 block of Park Lane when deputies responded to a check-the-welfare call.
Investigators also found a shattered window adjacent to the rear door of the residence.
A Coroner’s Bureau investigation determined Alberts’ death was a homicide.
Pauline Macareno, 48, of Porter Ranch, was arrested in June 2022 and charged with several crimes related to financial elder abuse against Alberts. Brown called her the “mastermind” in this case.
Macareno took advantage of Alberts and engaged in fraudulent behavior that led to her acquiring Alberts’ home, Brown said. She reportedly forged documents and established fraudulent entities to gain control of Alberts’ finances.
In 2020, Macareno obtained an appraisal of the Park Lane home; presented a deed of trust and option-to-purchase agreement to Alberts; caused a deed of trust to be recorded at the County Clerk-Recorder’s Office; and caused $217,000 to be sent from Marchland, Inc. to Alberts, according to court filings.
Brown said the motive behind Alberts’ murder was likely to accelerate Macareno obtaining her home.
Macareno pleaded no contest to identity theft, residential burglary and forgery-related charges on Feb. 13, and was sentenced to six years in state prison.
It was an open plea to the court, not a negotiated disposition, according to the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office.
She remained in custody without bail Thursday afternoon at the Santa Barbara County Jail.
On March 1, Macareno was charged with solicitating the murder of a co-financier in her reverse mortgage scheme that targeted Alberts, according to Superior Court documents.
She has not been charged with soliciting the murder of Alberts.
Three men from the Los Angeles area were implicated in the conspiracy to murder Alberts and were recently arrested and charged, Brown said.
Henry Rostomyan, 33, Ricardo MartinDelCampo, 41, and Harry Basmadjian, 58, have been charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
The criminal complaint alleges the men’s “overt acts” included getting a “burner” cell phone and an email account to assist in committing the murder.
The men met to plan to the killing and drove to Santa Barbara County on a scouting trip to Alberts’ home on May 24, two days before her death, the complaint says. They allegedly broke into her home and murdered her in her bed on May 26, 2022.
Basmadjian was arrested on Jan. 2 while being held in federal custody on an unrelated case, Brown said. Since then, he suffered a life-threatening medical emergency, according to Brown.
Rostamyan was arrested on Feb. 27, and MartinDelCampo was arrested on Tuesday. Both men are being held without bail in County Jail.
MartinDelCampo attempted to flee from arresting officers and discard firearms, Brown noted. The guns were recovered and determined to be a Glock semi-automatic pistol that had been illegally modified to turn it into a machine gun.
Brown said the Sheriff’s Office homicide detectives have been working hard on this case since Alberts’ death.
Thursday’s press conference was the first update since June 2023, when the department released photos of an SUV that was possibly tied to the homicide.
Security camera footage showed the vehicle entering and leaving Alberts’ residence around the time of the murder, according to investigators.
The vehicle pictured was believed to be a 2015-2018 white Porsche Cayenne. Investigators asked for assistance from Los Angeles authorities, as they believed the driver of the Porsche to have driven from Southern California to Montecito.
Brown said that it’s important that family members and caregivers are aware of their elderly loved ones’ finances, and look out for suspicious activity and the withdrawing of funds from financial institutions
Brown said that detectives are continuing their investigation as the case moves forward, and ask that anyone with information related to the case contact detectives at 805.681.4150 or call anonymously to the tip line at 805.681.4171.
Noozhawk Executive Editor Giana Magnoli contributed reporting to this story.
