NEWMAN (CBS13) – Authorities have arrested two people in Stanislaus County in connection with the murder of a California man at an Oregon hotel, the Grants Pass Department of Public Safety announced.
Just after 11 a.m. on January 5, the victim, 42-year-old Ryan Antone Dutra, of California, was found unconscious with a single gunshot wound to the floor of a hotel room he had rented at a Red Lion Inn in Josephine County. Oregon, law enforcement said. He had been discovered by a hotel worker. He was pronounced dead on the spot.
Derek and Tera Smith
Through video surveillance, cell phone technology and license plate readers, authorities said they identified the suspects in Dutra’s murder as 41-year-old Derek Ian Smith and his wife, 34-year-old Tera Lindsey Smith. Police said it was likely the two were already back in California at the time they were identified.
The California Highway Patrol Sacramento Police Department, San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Office, and Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office all assisted in the investigation.
At approximately 10:30 a.m. on January 6, the Smiths were located on Interstate 5 in the town of Newman in Stanislaus County and were taken into custody without incident, authorities said.
Both are charged with murder, theft and unlawful use of a firearm.
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