Fifth suspect charged in Merced County double homicide

A fifth suspect has been charged with murder and kidnapping in connection with the violent deaths last year of two men whose badly burned bodies were found in a torched vehicle in northern Merced County.

Bernardo Rangel, 43, was charged Thursday with two counts each of murder, kidnapping and false imprisonment in the deaths of Reyes Garcia Barona, 29, of Atwater and Rudolpho Barona, 32, of Sacramento, according to prosecutor Matthew Serratto, the Merced County deputy district attorney handling the case.

Rangel was scheduled for arraignment Thursday in Merced Superior Court, but the hearing was delayed one day. He returns to court Friday morning, Serratto said.

The bodies of both victims were discovered Oct. 20 inside a burned vehicle in an orchard on East Monte Vista Avenue, east of Denair, the Merced County Sheriff’s Department said.

Four other suspects were arrested within weeks of the deaths, but Rangel remained out of custody while investigators continued to develop potential evidence in the case, Detective Sgt. Chuck Hale said.

Hale praised the work of Detective Sam Sanchez, the lead investigator in the case, and Detective Ruben Orozco.

“The fact there was significant time between the first arrests and this arrest demonstrates another example of our detectives never giving up on any aspect of any case until absolutely every detail of a case has been pursued,” Hale said.

Rangel was arrested Friday at his home on Acacia Court in Atwater, deputies said.

The other four defendants in the case – Heliodora Silva Arreola, 37; Gerardo A. Silva, 25; Salvador Silva, 23; and Monico Pena, 40 – have pleaded not guilty to the same charges. They are due back in court June 11 for further proceedings.

If convicted, each defendant faces a possible sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, prosecutors said.

All five defendants remain in custody in Merced County.

Investigators believe the victims, who were related, were kidnapped and killed over a drug debt. Investigators found several firearms and other unspecified evidence at the scene, as well as evidence of at least two crime scenes within the Merced County orchard.

Deputies have declined to say exactly how the victims were killed.

Detectives described Barona as one of the main instigators in the violence and said they believe he has ties to an organized drug cartel out of Mexico. “He was behind the incident and arranged or directed certain things to happen,” Hale said.

Both victims were last seen by their families early on Oct. 18. They told relatives they were going to get food and then never returned, deputies said.

During the investigation, authorities seized more than 150 pounds of marijuana buds from a home in the 6800 block of California Street in Winton, along with more than $4,000 in cash and numerous guns.

Investigators also searched a home in the 3400 block of Manchester Road in Atwater but have not said how they believe that house was connected to the case.

This story was originally published May 14, 2015 at 5:05 PM with the headline "Fifth suspect charged in Merced County double homicide."