Dakota Valkyrie
December 9th, 2008, 08:33 AM
A 66-year-old bank retiree and flutist found dead after a townhouse fire last week was killed by a man who stole his expensive custom-made high-end flutes and set a fire to cover up the crime.
Sheriff's investigators arrested 23-year-old Alejandro Hernandez Rivera, 23, following an investigation that led to Boston and New York before ending in Solano County.
The two-alarm fire broke out about 10 p.m. Dec. 3. Afterward, firefighters found the body of Theodore Neff, who had worked at Bank of America in Concord before retiring.
The autopsy revealed that Neff had been strangled. The killer set the fire to cover up the crime, sheriff's Lt. Daniel Terry said.
That conclusion did not come easily. In an investigation that began as what Terry called "a Rubik's Cube," detectives had no motive or suspect once they learned that Neff's death was suspicious.
An interview with Neff's music teacher revealed that the victim collected expensive flutes, including one valued at $23,000. No flutes were found after the fire.
The flute's Boston-based manufacturer told investigators of a man who wanted to sell back one of their flutes. Its New York office had a similar call from a prospective seller. That office gave detectives the seller's cell phone number.
Investigators traced the number to Rivera and set up a sting operation with a deputy posing as a prospective flute buyer. When Rivera arrived for a meeting at the hotel, he was arrested and questioned. The suspect confessed to the slaying and arson, and said he had met Neff through a Craigslist posting in which Rivera advertised himself as a male escort.
"That was when (Rivera) apparently learned the value of the flutes," Terry said.http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_11170470
Now he'll get plenty of time to practice a different kind of flute.
Sheriff's investigators arrested 23-year-old Alejandro Hernandez Rivera, 23, following an investigation that led to Boston and New York before ending in Solano County.
The two-alarm fire broke out about 10 p.m. Dec. 3. Afterward, firefighters found the body of Theodore Neff, who had worked at Bank of America in Concord before retiring.
The autopsy revealed that Neff had been strangled. The killer set the fire to cover up the crime, sheriff's Lt. Daniel Terry said.
That conclusion did not come easily. In an investigation that began as what Terry called "a Rubik's Cube," detectives had no motive or suspect once they learned that Neff's death was suspicious.
An interview with Neff's music teacher revealed that the victim collected expensive flutes, including one valued at $23,000. No flutes were found after the fire.
The flute's Boston-based manufacturer told investigators of a man who wanted to sell back one of their flutes. Its New York office had a similar call from a prospective seller. That office gave detectives the seller's cell phone number.
Investigators traced the number to Rivera and set up a sting operation with a deputy posing as a prospective flute buyer. When Rivera arrived for a meeting at the hotel, he was arrested and questioned. The suspect confessed to the slaying and arson, and said he had met Neff through a Craigslist posting in which Rivera advertised himself as a male escort.
"That was when (Rivera) apparently learned the value of the flutes," Terry said.http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_11170470
Now he'll get plenty of time to practice a different kind of flute.