PENNGROVE – According to a Community notice issued by the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, on Thursday February 26, the dispatch at the Sheriff’s Office received a call from a man who said he had come to a residence in Penngrove and found a person there, and that there was blood visible at the scene.
Medical personnel and Sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene at 960 Rose Avenue, at the residence of Olga Mary Dinelli and her 75-year-old brother Larry, who was not at home at the time of the incident. The 84-year-old woman was found deceased in a chair, and the house was in a complete disarray.
The Violent Crimes Investigation unit took the lead in the case because of the suspicious conditions that were found inside the home. The case is being investigated as a homicide. The County Coroner is conducting an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of her death.
The woman lived at the residence for several decades with her brother, who was located and informed of her death. Her brother also lists a repair business at the same address.
Olga is described as a sweet and quiet little old lady who attended St. James Catholic Church in nearby Petaluma. The family raised chickens on the property until the 1950s. They had been renting out the old chicken sheds there as storage units. The family is at a loss in trying to understand how she could have become a target for such a crime.
This is an active and on-going investigation and the Sheriff’s office is asking for the public’s assistance in locating Olga Dinelli’s red 1998 Lexus SC400 with the license plate of 4HZF060. A photograph of a similar vehicle is pictured above. Authorities advise that if you see the vehicle, do not approach the occupants, but call your local law enforcement agency immediately.
The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office encourages anyone with information pertaining to this case to call the investigations Tip Line at 707-565-2185. You may leave a message and remain anonymous.
Update 3/02/15: The Sheriff’s Department announced late Friday that the vehicle was recovered. Then, on Sunday, they followed up stating that a group of suspects had been identified, and they had information that they were in Southern California, and were thought to be in a rental car driving on Interstate 10 near Indio at around 2 pm on Saturday.
The Riverside Sheriff’s office was alerted, and found the vehicle with two men matching the wanted suspects’ descriptions. The driver did not respond to attempts to pull the car over, and a pursuit was engaged, which led them all the way across the border into Arizona, when the car was disabled. One of the men left the car with a weapon, and was fired on by deputies. He was killed in the gunfire, and not yet identified. The other man, Victor Silva, 27 of Marin County, surrendered without incident.
Detectives also identified a third suspect, John Bruno Martinez, 27 of Richmond, who was arrested there on Saturday by Sonoma Sheriff’s detectives. He was charged with murder, conspiracy, possession of an assault weapon, and receiving stolen property, and is being held without bail. Silva was arrested and being held on charges related to the pursuit, and will be extradited to Sonoma County to face the same charges as Martinez, pending further investigation.
The case remains active, and further details were not yet released.
