Arrests made in the murder-for-hire scheme of 96-year-old Montecito woman
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department announced the arrests of four people from the Los Angeles area in connection to a murder-for-hire death of a 96-year-old woman two years ago.
A caretaker found Violet Evelyn Alberts dead in her Montecito home on May 27, 2022. Investigators say she died from asphyxiation.
During a Thursday news conference, Sheriff Bill Brown announced the arrests, saying the motive behind the murder was financial exploitation. Brown also thanked all the agencies involved in solving the case.
"In total, to date, 10,424.5 hours have been spent by our detectives alone in the investigation to unravel the complex web surrounding Violet Alberts's tragic murder," Brown said.
The mastermind of the scheme was Pauline Lisa Macareno, 48, of Porter Ranch. According to Brown, Macareno fraudulently acquired Alberts' property. She was arrested in June 2022, faced 18 felony charges including forgery and theft from an elder, and was sentenced to six years in state prison. Brown added that further charges related to Alberts' murder are pending.
Thursday's arrest announcement detailed the three others involved in the murder-to-hire scheme, Henry Rostomyan, 58, from Van Nuys, Ricardo Martin DelCampo, 41 of Los Angeles, and 33-year-old Harry Basmadjian of Tujunga.
In June 2023, Sheriff's detectives released images from surveillance footage that showed a 2015-2018 white Porsche Cayenne coming and going from Alberts' home the night of her murder.
Along with the images of the car, detectives said at the time that they believed the car traveled from Los Angeles to Montecito. Brown said that detectives believe Rostomyan and DelCampo were the men in that car.
Rostomyan was arrested on Feb. 27, 2024 and DelCampo was arrested March 5, 2024. Both are facing conspiracy to murder and murder charges. They are currently being held with no bail.
Basmadjian was arrested for conspiracy to murder on Jan. 22. 2024. Brown said that while he was in federal custody in Los Angeles on an unrelated charge, he suffered a life-threatening medical emergency that left him brain dead.
Brown also asked for the public's help for further information in the case. Anyone with information can call Santa Barbara County Sheriff's detectives at (805) 681-4150.
