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Suspect in elderly woman's death found dead in Riverside County

(story updated Sept. 8, 2008)

Authorities have confirmed that Fallbrook resident Jeff Nolen, 38, a suspect in the recent murder of his girlfriend’s 74-year old grandmother, was found dead in his vehicle by officers in the community of Calimesa in Riverside County at 8:58 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 5. Nolan, the subject of a manhunt for two days, was suspected of murdering the grandmother (identity not released yet) of his longtime girlfriend and mother of his children, Amy Jo Mitchell, 32.

Mitchell was arrested on September 4 and booked on a charge of Financial Abuse of an Elder. The body of Mitchell’s 74-year old grandmother was found shortly after midnight September 4 in her apartment at 421 Potter Street. The elderly woman’s identity has not yet been released by officials, but the cause of death has ben established as ligature strangulation. Officials at the scene said it appeared that the woman had been dead for approximately six days, because decomposition of the body was significant.

Nolen’s body was found in a green Mercury sport utility vehicle that matches the description of one he was known to drive. Officers found him, unresponsive, inside the vehicle, in the 500 block of Myrtlewood Drive. The Riverside County Coroner’s Office has listed his death as 'suspicious.'

The grandmother’s body was found after a phone call was made to the Sheriff’s Department on September 4, suggesting that someone check on her welfare. “There was no sign of forced entry and it is hard to determine if her apartment was ransacked,” said Lt. Dennis Brugos, of the Sheriff’s Homicide Dept.

The woman’s body was discovered inside a bookcase in her apartment. “Someone placed her body inside a book case that had been laid down on the floor,” Brugos said. “They also had covered the body.” Brugos said. The decomposing body had begun to emit a strong odor outside the apartment door, he said.

Brugos said that evidence officers found at the scene suggested foul play and leads were worked immediately by both local and homicide detectives.

Mitchell was arrested by officers at the home she shared with Nolen on Shady Glen Drive in Fallbrook. Authorities say Child Protective Services have taken charge of the couple’s three children.

Some acquaintances of Nolen said he had been known to use drugs and others said he and Mitchell were involved in “some kind of legal trouble involving complaints of abuse.” Mitchell’s grandmother had moved to Fallbrook from Simi Valley only four or five months before, they said, but indicated the allegations of abuse may have been made by her against the couple.

Brugos said investigators are looking into complaint files as well as the woman’s financial records to try and determine what transpired.

Brugos emphasized that this crime was not a random act of violence. “Residents can feel safe and just take their normal precautions,” he said.

 

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