HONOLULU — Two men captured in Southern California and suspected of a Hawaii murder were living in the victim's house in an exclusive, gated community until neighbors complained about a stench, leading to the discovery of the homeowner's body encased in concrete in a bathtub, police said.
U.S. Marshals and Los Angeles police found Juan Tejedor Baron, 23, hiding in a crawl space under a bench at the back of a Greyhound bus Wednesday in Anaheim, California, police said. The bus was headed for Mexico.
On Monday, patrol officers were sent to a home in the exclusive east Honolulu neighborhood called Hawaii Loa Ridge to check on the 73-year-old owner, who was reported missing, according to Honolulu police.
Detectives spoke with Baron, who claimed to live in the home and was in a relationship with the owner, police said. He allowed police to search the home, but the owner couldn't be found. Detectives noticed a bathtub filed with a “concrete-type substance,” Honolulu police said.
Detectives saw Baron leave with a 34-year-old man.
The next day, police returned to the home and saw that the concrete-filled tub was covered with coffee grounds, Hawaii News Now reported. As police chipped away at the concrete, they found a decomposing body.
“It is alleged that after the murder, the two suspects were living in the victim's house and on the victim's money until the neighbors complained about a decaying smell from the victim's location,” Los Angeles police said in a news release.
The Honolulu Medical Examiner's office didn't release the man's identity Thursday.
Marshals and Los Angeles police arrested the 34-year-old man, soon after Baron was captured Wednesday. Scott Hannon was arrested near an intersection in Inglewood, California, police said.
Baron and Hannon were booked into the Los Angeles Police Department Metropolitan Detention Center and it wasn't immediately clear if they have attorneys.
They were being held without bail pending extradition hearings to be returned to Honolulu to face murder charges, Los Angeles police said.
