Sacto 9-1-1: Sacramento sheriff: Man arrested in slaying of horse trainer

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September 3, 2010

Sacramento sheriff: Man arrested in slaying of horse trainer

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

A 26-year-old Antelope man is in custody in Kern County today, accused in the killing of a well-known horse trainer in his Watt Avenue apartment last weekend, according to authorities.

Sheriff's detectives arrested Juan Carlos Orozco at a relative's home in Kern County late Thursday night, said spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran. Detectives allege he is responsible for the death of 69-year-old Galen May, who was found dead in his apartment by a neighbor Saturday afternoon, Curran said.

Orozco, who lived in the same Antelope-area apartment complex as May, was booked in the Kern County jail on suspicion of murder, burglary and resisting arrest, Curran said. Authorities expect him to be transferred to Sacramento County in the coming days.

The Sacramento County coroner's office has not yet determined how May was killed, saying only that a number of factors contributed to his death, Curran said.

Detectives believe he was killed sometime between the morning of Aug. 26 and the afternoon of Aug. 28, when a neighbor discovered his front door ajar and his body on the floor.

Detectives do not know the motive for the killing. Initially, they investigated the possibility that May's affinity for gambling might have played a role, but they have not determined whether that is the case, Curran said.

They allege Orozco stole May's car and found surveillance video of Orozco at a Hayward gas station. When detectives canvassed the apartment complex with that video, a neighbor identified the man driving May's car as Orozco.

Call The Bee's Kim Minugh, (916) 321-1038.

KCRA: Help sought to find man's killer

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Q: #1. In the early 1980's there was a body found in the bushes of a fast food restaurant on Folsom Blvd and Mather Blvd, I think it was Taco Bell. The victim banged on the door but the employee's would not let him in. Was anyone caught and brought to justice, if so are they still in prison? #2. In the mid 1980's there was an altercation outside I think at the old Confetti's Night Club on Arden Way. If I recall the victims were trying to escape and were caught and beat with a baseball bat. The victims were foud in two different locations. Was anyone caught and brought to justice for these to murders, if so are they still in prison. #3 In the early 1980's a man was raping women in Rancho Cordova. One of the victims told investigators that the suspect was wearing an Air Force uniform. Was the suspect ever caught, if so, is he still in prison.

A: In answer to Question No. 2: Two men were sentenced to prison for the Dec. 30, 1986, beating death of 20-year-old Navy electronics technician Dan W. Lacy Jr.

Reyes Rios, the 17-year-old who beat Lacy with a baseball bat, was convicted of second-degree murder. His co-defendant, Ok Chul Shin, 20, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter.

According to stories in The Bee, Lacy was on Christmas leave from the Navy at the time of his death.

He and a friend in a pickup truck were chased by a carload of men after an angry confrontation outside the Confetti night club. When their pickup became disabled at the end of a dead-end street,they tried flee from their pursuers on foot. The friend escaped after being roughed up by a couple of the young men.

Family members found Lacy's body 37 hours later in a drainage canal that runs under Hurley Way.

Shin was not involved in the original confrontation but arrived later and gave Rios and his companions a ride back to the disabled pickup to steal stereo equipment. There they again spotted Lacy and chased him into Chicken Ranch Slough, where, Shin testified, two other young men appeared to kick him as he lay face-down in the sand of the canal. Rios then arrived with a bat and started taking swings at Lacy's head.

Rios was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison, and Shin received and 11-year sentence. Neither appears in an online roster of current California prison inmates.

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