25 Year Old Man Murders and Dismembers His Mother

Son kills his mother and puts her dismembered body in dumpster, California cops say

A 25-year-old man was arrested for suspected murder of his mother, whose dismembered remains were found Friday morning in the trash can at an apartment complex in Camarillo. The son, David M. Hoetzlein, was suspected of mutilating the body before placing it in the Dumpster, Ventura County Sheriffs officials said Saturday night. The agency is contracted to provide policing services for Camarillo. The mother was identified as 62-year-old Tomoko Hoetzlein. The two lived together in an apartment near a Dumpster, authorities said.

The finding of the likely human remains was reported about 6:50 a.m. Friday at an enclosed garbage container in the back of Las Positas Apartments in the 300 block of Townsite Promenade. The location is within a residential subdivision on the south side of West Ponderosa Drive. By early afternoon, Ventura County medical examiner officials had confirmed that the remains were human.

Following that confirmation, Sheriffs Major Crimes Unit began an inquest into the killing, said Sheriff Capt. Officials later said that one family member was taken into custody, but that there had been no arrests. Meanwhile, detectives had obtained a search warrant. They found David Hoetzlein alone in an apartment, sheriffs officials said Saturday night.

Evidence linking him to the murder was reportedly recovered in the search. The arrest, for suspected murder, occurred just before 8:30pm Friday. Investigators had been working at the scene throughout Friday, gathering evidence and interviewing neighbors.

By midday, an area across from the condo complex was blocked by yellow police tape, and the Sheriffs new Mobile Command Vehicle was deployed across the street. A parking lot in the back of the building was marked with red crime-scene tape.

Hoetzlein remains at Ventura County Jail on Saturday night, where bond is set at $3 million, according to jail records online. Hoetzlein, who had not been officially charged by the Ventura County district attorneys office as of Saturday, was scheduled to be arraigned in court Tuesday afternoon.

It is the fifth murder case that the agency has investigated this year, and third where the child is accused of killing his parents. In March, Michael Fernandes, a 73-year-old Moorpark man, was stabbed with a pair of scissors, authorities said. His son, Jason Tyler Fernandes, 23, has pleaded not guilty to the murder.

He remains jailed on $1 million bond on Saturday. Authorities said a Piroueta man, Steve A. Acosta, 62, died from facial and neck stabbings in April. His son, 25-year-old Daniel Drum, has pleaded not guilty to the murder charges and remains in prison on Saturday, bond set at $510,000.

Fridays events are also the third murder investigated by the Sheriffs Office in the last two weeks. On May 22, a man was fatally stabbed in Newbury Park. On May 29, a man was fatally shot in Saticoy. Suspects were charged in both cases. Anyone with information regarding homicides in Camarillo is encouraged to contact Detective Michael Marko at 805-283-8739.