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Following a high-speed car chase that ended in Menlo Park, two people suspected of shooting and killing a 53-year-old woman in a Sacramento motel the previous night were arrested around 5:30 p.m. on Monday, March 20.
A little after 11:45 p.m. on Sunday, March 19, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department responded to a 911 call reporting a gunshot in the 3200 block of Auburn Boulevard in Sacramento. Deputies searched the Surf Motel at 3204 Auburn Blvd. and found the body of 53-year-old Leonora Montoya, who was pronounced dead on the scene from a gunshot wound to the head.
The two suspects in the homicide, James Martin Baca, 37, and Rebecca Irene Temme, 35, of Sacramento, allegedly fled the scene by stealing Ms. Montoya’s car.
Detectives believe that there was prior animosity between Ms. Montoya and the two now suspected of killing her; they believe the ill will “led to the robbery and murder,” according to the department.
Ms. Montoya’s car, with the two suspects in it, was reportedly spotted in Redwood City the day after the killing. Law enforcement officers from multiple agencies pursued the car, leading to a high-speed chase. The stolen car entered Menlo Park at the Marsh Road exit of U.S. 101 and reportedly crashed at the 100 block of Constitution Drive, according to a Menlo Park Police Department spokesperson. After the car crashed, the suspects ran away on foot but were captured.
The effort involved law enforcement officers from the California Highway Patrol, the Menlo Park Police Department, the Redwood City Department and the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department.
Ms. Temme was arrested on suspicion of robbery, murder and violation of “post release community supervision,” and Mr. Baca was arrested on suspicion of robbery, murder and violation of parole.
The two are not eligible for bail and were scheduled to be arraigned in the Sacramento County Superior Court on March 22.
