Million-Dollar Bail for Murder Suspects

SANTA BARBARA — Arrests have been made in a murder case that began two months ago when Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a 911 Emergency call alerting them to the presence of an unconscious man lying in an open area north of Santa Barbara city limits in close proximity to San Marcos High School known locally as “Granny’s Field”. The man was quickly identified as the victim of an assault and was promptly transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital for evaluation and treatment.

Carlos Medina

The victim, Richard Alden Boden, a 51-year-old transient is reported by Kelly Hoover, SBSD Public Information Officer, to have “sustained major injuries from the assault.” Following several weeks of intensive care treatment, Boden failed to regain consciousness and was ultimately removed from life support at the request of his family on October 14^th, whereupon he died “as a result of complications stemming from the injuries he sustained during the assault,” Hoover reported.

Jonathan Andrade

The investigation into the assault and beating—now a homicide—continued unabated in the weeks following, leading Detectives to identify Carlos Medina, 44, Jonathan Andrade, 20, and Roman Romero, 18, as principle suspects who were known to frequent “Granny’s Field” at the time of the incident.

Roman Romero

On November 10^th, Medina was located and arrested in the city of Pasadena following a prior arrest on August 7^th for another assault allegation. On the following day, November 11^th, both Romero and Andrade were located in Santa Barbara, and, with the collaborative efforts of the Sheriff’s Special Enforcement Team, were arrested without incident. All three suspects were transported to Santa Barbara County Jail where they were booked on charges of Murder and Conspiracy to Commit Murder, with their bail set at $1,000,000 each.

Photos: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking

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