A 96-year-old widow was murdered by hitmen in a plot orchestrated by a woman who was trying to fraudulently steal her California home, KTLA-TV reports.
On Thursday, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Paul Brown announced that arrests had been made in connection with the killing, which occurred nearly two years ago.
Violet Alberts was found dead on May 27, 2022, in her home in Montecito. Her death was ruled a homicide: a window in her bedroom was shattered, and she had died from asphyxiation.
Investigators later uncovered what they allege was a plot by 48-year-old Pauline Macareno to steal Alberts’ home.
“The case was revealed to be a tangled, evil web of financial exploitation against the victim,” Brown said at the press conference.
“Through deceptive means, Macareno orchestrated a series of transactions, including forging documents and establishing fraudulent entities to gain control over Alberts’ assets unlawfully.”
It is not clear how Macareno came to know Alberts, but Brown alleged that Macareno posed as a real estate agent and offered Alberts a fake reverse mortgage. Authorities say Macareno became impatient that Alberts was still living, so she hired three men to kill the elderly woman.
“Let me put it this way. In the eyes of Ms. Macareno, Ms. Alberts was living too long,” Brown said, according to the Santa Barba Independent.
Prosecutors have charged the men – Harry Basmadjian, Henry Rostomyan and Ricardo MartinDelCampo – with murder and conspiracy to murder.
As part of the murder plot, authorities allege that two of the men went on a “scouting trip” days before the killing.
Rostomyan and MartinDelCampo are in the county’s custody. Basmadjian had been in federal custody on unrelated charges when he was arrested in connection with the case, but he later “suffered a life-threatening medical emergency that left him totally incapacitated with a grim prognosis,” according to the sheriff’s office.
Authorities arrested Macareno in June 2022 for elder abuse in connection with her deceit of Alberts and was sentenced to 6 years in prison. She could face additional charges for the murder conspiracy.
Brown described Alberts as a “vibrant, 96-year-old widow, a cherished figure in the Montecito community.” He said that “despite her age, she had remained active and engaged and she was known for her warm demeanor and social nature.”
In fact, at the time of her death, it appeared that Alberts had been preparing to bake cookies for her upcoming birthday.
“The ingredients for those cookies were found on the table” when officers responded to her residence, Brown said.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast. Listen to a previous episode on the case below.
[Feature Photo: Violet Alberts/Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office]
