Joshua Wells, 29, Arrested In Connection To Double Murder Of Long Beach Couple Over Alleged Parking Dispute
LONG BEACH (CBSLA) - Long Beach police and the U.S. Marshals Service teamed up to arrest a man in Iowa on suspicion of killing a Long Beach couple near their home, police said Saturday.
Authorities said Joshua Wells, a 29-year-old Long Beach resident, was on the run when he was arrested Thursday near a family member's residence in Windsor Heights, Iowa, and booked for the Sept. 4 murders of 44-year-old Maricela Honorato and 39-year-old Juan Guizar-Gutierrez.
The U.S. Marshals Southern District of Iowa Fugitive Task Force and Long Beach Police Department homicide detectives coordinated the arrest after detectives presented their case to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office on Tuesday resulting in an arrest warrant for two counts of murder.
Two search warrants were served Thursday, one in the 900 block of Loma Vista Drive in Long Beach and one in the 8100 block of Harbach Boulevard in Clive, Iowa. Both resulted in the discovery of evidence which linked Wells to the crimes, police said.
Wells was being held on $6 million bail and will be extradited to Long Beach.
At an earlier press conference, LBPD officials refused to show a photo of the 29-year-old suspect and, instead, wanted to highlight the victims.
Family members said Honorato and Guizar-Gutierrez had just returned from a fishing trip. As they were looking for a parking spot, a car behind them started honking and an argument ensued.
When Guizar-Gutierrez came back outside to look for his missing keys, the suspect is alleged to have shot and killed him. The suspect is believed to have shot Honorato after she came running out shortly after. She was transported to the hospital where she later died.
Officials said they have been working tirelessly to solve what they referred to as a senseless murders of beloved community members.
As far as motive is concerned, authorities said they are still looking into the earlier argument about parking, but said there's still a lot they don't know.
Anyone with information about the shooting was urged to contact Homicide Detectives Ethan Shear, Jose Rodriguez or Michael Hutchinson at 562- 570-7244, or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.