Latest news with #DiegoCountySheriff'sOffice
Los Angeles Times
03-05-2025
- Los Angeles Times
SoCal man who killed wife and tossed her severed legs in trash gets 15 years to life in prison
For more than two decades, Jack Potter had fooled people into believing his dead wife, whose severed legs were found in a Rancho San Diego trash container in 2003, was still alive, prosecutors say. On Friday, one of the region's most disturbing cold cases concluded when 72-year-old Jack Potter was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for the murder of his wife, Laurie Potter. Potter pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and admitted to smothering his 54-year-old wife to death in February, prosecutors said. For almost 20 years, prosecutors say, Potter was living large and profiting off of Laurie's death while pretending she was still alive. He fraudulently opened credit cards in her name and used family court to sell their home in Temecula and pocket the profits, prosecutors said. He met a new girlfriend at a strip club and gifted her a Hummer SUV and a ski boat, leased her an apartment and gave her a credit card with a $30,000 limit, prosecutors said. The girlfriend eerily shared his wife's name. Potter expressed remorse during Friday's hearing, apologizing and saying he loved his wife. 'I let my emotions get the better of me that one time,' he said. 'I don't know why. It just happened and I'm sorry.' A maintenance worker at the Country Hills Apartment complex in Rancho San Diego had discovered Laurie's legs in October 2003, but law enforcement was unable to identify her and the case went unsolved. That was until 2020 when new DNA investigative techniques led to a breakthrough in the haunting cold case. Detectives ran the crime scene DNA through a national database and matched it to a distant relative. Detectives then progressively asked closer relatives to share their DNA until — 20 people and six months later — they reached Laurie's adult son. His sample allowed them to identify Laurie and a subsequent investigation yielded evidence connecting her husband to the crime, according to a 2021 news release from the San Diego County Sheriff's Office. When Potter was arrested in 2021, Laurie's family, though unaware of her whereabouts, thought she was still alive, according to the Sheriff's Office. She was never reported missing and without genetic testing — the same technology used to identity the Golden State Killer and crack scores of cold cases — this murder would have probably gone unsolved, the Sheriff's Office said in the news release. Laurie's son, John Carlson, said during Potter's sentencing hearing that he'd lost touch with his mother, but had tried to contact her and renew their relationship. Carlson said Potter told him his mother 'just wanted to be alone, which unfortunately I believed. And this really hurts to this day.' Laurie's case marked the first time the San Diego County Sheriff's Office attempted to identify a murder victim using investigative genealogy. 'This case is a stark reminder that the pursuit of justice never stops,' San Diego County Dist. Atty. Summer Stephan said in a statement Friday. 'And neither does the grief of those who lose someone to violence. Today, we honor Laurie's memory and stand with her family in their long-awaited moment of justice.' City News Service contributed to this report.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Yahoo
East County missing woman found dead
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — A missing woman was found dead Sunday in an unincorporated area of San Diego County. Michelle Elaine Moden, 53, who had been missing since April 20, was last seen leaving her home in the 6100 block of Dehesa Road in unincorporated El Cajon, according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Office. Bob Filner, the ex-mayor of San Diego mired by sexual misconduct, dead at 82 On Sunday, her body was found along with her vehicle, a blue 2005 Chevrolet Silverado, along Sequan Truck Trail, Officer Jared Grieshaber with California Highway Patrol said in a news release Monday. Authorities determined no foul play is suspected at this time. Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to contact the California Highway Patrol Border Division Major Crimes Unit at 858-944-6300. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Yahoo
Driver allegedly carrying rifle, drugs arrested: SDSO
RAMONA, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) — A man was arrested Friday on suspicion of possessing a controlled substance and firearm following a traffic stop in Ramona. Sean Blickfeldt, 43, was arrested and booked into the San Diego Central Jail, Lt. Alex Navarro with the San Diego County Sheriff's Office said in a news release Sunday. The incident occurred around 8:30 p.m. near the intersection of State Route 78 at Poplar Street. Northern California deputies intercept semi-truck full of cocaine from Mexican border Deputies pulled over a gray 2004 Ford Ranger pickup with an expired registration and a defective windshield, according to authorities. When law enforcement searched the vehicle, SDSO confirmed they found a loaded .22 caliber rifle and several plastic baggies of methamphetamines — one with 1.19 grams and the other with 2.44 grams. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
