2 men arrested in California after body found in concrete in bathtub in Hawaii
Two men were arrested in southern California on Wednesday and charged with the death of an elderly man whose body was found encased in concrete in a bathtub in Honolulu, authorities said.
On Monday, patrol officers were dispatched to a home in the east Honolulu neighborhood of Hawaii’s Loa Ridge to check on the 73-year-old homeowner who was reported missing, according to Honolulu police.
When authorities arrived at the house, they spoke with a man, later identified as 23-year-old Juan Tejedor Baron, who said he knew the owner and lived in the house. Baron allowed detectives to search the house but they couldn’t find the 73-year-old. They found a tub filled with concrete. Authorities say they saw Baron leave the house later with 34-year-old Scott Hannon.
Hannon and Baron were questioned about the missing person but were released early Tuesday morning, according to Hawaii News Now. The Honolulu Police Department turned the investigation over to homicide investigators and on Tuesday detectives began chipping away at the concrete where they discovered a decomposing body later identified as the missing 73-year-old homeowner.
Lt. Deena Thoemmes of the Honolulu Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division told Hawaii News Now that coffee grounds were on top of the concrete, likely masking the smell.
“When we walked in, we definitely smelled the coffee,” Thoemmes said. “The body was in the freestanding tub, and it was in a state of decomposition once we chipped away at the concrete mix.”
However, the coffee grounds were not enough to hide a “rotting smell” coming from the house.
“The victim and one of the suspects were involved in an intimate relationship. It is alleged that after the murder, the two suspects lived in the victim’s house and on the victim’s money until neighbors complain of a decomposing smell coming from the victim’s location,” the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement.
Authorities then named Baron and Hannon as suspects, and the Honolulu Police Department said the individuals were “considered dangerous” and their whereabouts were unknown. With the help of U.S. Marshals, police later learned that the two had fled the island of Oahu for Los Angeles.
At approximately 5 p.m. PT, US Marshals and LAPD officers located and arrested Baron in the city of Anaheim, less than 20 miles southeast of Los Angeles. Police say Baron removed a metal plate from under a bench inside a Greyhound bus bound for Mexico and hid in the crawl space.
Less than two hours later, authorities located Hannon at an intersection in Inglewood, southwest of Los Angeles.
Baron and Hannon were subsequently incarcerated at the LAPD Metropolitan Detention Center. They are being held without bond pending extradition hearings to be returned to Honolulu to face murder charges, authorities say.
The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office did not release the identity of the man who died Thursday.
Contribute: The Associated Press
Follow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jordan_mendoza5.
What is everyone talking about? Subscribe to our trendy newsletter to receive the latest news of the day
USA Today
