| For Immediate Release Case # 09CF2689
October 30, 2009 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Public Affairs Counsel Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
MAN CHARGED WITH DOUBLE MURDER OF STANTON SALES ASSOCIATE AND SECRETARY
SANTA ANA – A Garden Grove man will be arraigned today for the double murder of a Stanton sales associate, who was the son of the business co-owner, and his longtime secretary. Hilbert Pineil Thomas, 38, is charged with two felony counts of special circumstance murder with sentencing enhancements for the personal discharge of a firearm causing death. If convicted, Thomas faces a minimum sentence of life without the possibility of parole. These charges make him eligible for the death penalty. Thomas is not eligible for bail and is scheduled to be arraigned today, Friday, Oct. 30, 2009, at 9:00 a.m. in Department CJ-1, Central Jail, Santa Ana.
On the morning of Feb. 2, 2009, Thomas is accused of walking into the Golden Sun Homes business office on Beach Boulevard in Stanton. He is accused of shooting Matthew Francis Scott and Elizabeth Ann Palmer execution-style in the head. The defendant is accused of leaving the crime scene in a Lexus sedan belonging to Elizabeth Palmer.
On Oct. 28, 2009, after months of searching for the vehicle, police found the stolen Lexus at El Dorado Inn on Lincoln Avenue in Anaheim. Evidence from the vehicle led to the defendant’s identification and arrest.
The investigation is ongoing. Senior Deputy District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.
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