UPDATED: HEMET: Officials investigating murder-attempted suicide
UPDATE: Jan. 25, 5 p.m.
Vincent Marples was arrested for murder after he allegedly attempted to commit suicide.
HEMET – Officials have provided additional information about yesterday’s murder-attempted suicide investigation.
The investigation began Tuesday, Jan. 24, about 2:47 p.m., after the Hemet Police Dispatch Center received a 911 call from a subject who told dispatchers that a family member, later identified as Vincent James Marples, 33, of Hemet, had called and told her that his girlfriend was dead, according to Hemet Police Lieutenant Eddie Pust.
The deceased woman was later identified by police officials as 32-year-old Cassandra Taylor.
The 911 caller was able to provide a vehicle description and a general area that Vincent Marples was known to frequent.
Hemet police officers, with assistance from Riverside County Sheriff’s helicopter and ground deputies began searching for a vehicle matching the description provided by the caller.
Star-9 eventually located a vehicle matching the Marples’ vehicle in a rural, hilly area southeast of State Street and Gibble Road.
“Hemet Officers were able to make their way to the vehicle where they located both Marples and Taylor inside the vehicle,” Pust explained. “Taylor was deceased and Marples was taken into custody for homicide based on initial findings.”
During their initial investigation, officials determined that an “altercation occurred” between Marples and Taylor, according to Pust.
“The altercation resulted in the death of Taylor,” Pust stated.
An online jail records search revealed Marples is being held without bail and is scheduled to be arraigned at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta Jan. 26.
A Superior Court records searched showed Taylor sought and obtained a domestic violence restraining order against Marples in 2015. The search also revealed Marples had a warrant for his arrest after he failed to appear at a Jan. 11 court hearing on charges of attempting to prevent or dissuade a witness from testifying, making terrorist threats, possession of a zip gun, felon in possession of ammunition, and domestic violence.
Anyone with information regarding this investigation is encouraged to contact Hemet Police Detective D. Purcell at (951) 765-2421.
ORIGINAL STORY
AMR medics treat a man who reportedly tried to commit suicide using his vehicles exhaust fumes. Gary Rainwater/Hemet News photo
HEMET – Hemet police officials are conducting an investigation into a possible murder-attempted suicide that was reported Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 24.
The alleged incident, which has not yet been officially confirmed, prompted numerous sheriff and police officials to converge on a dirt field in the area of Gibbel Road and State Street in Hemet.
Although authorities have only officially confirmed they are investigating a “major incident” at the location, according to sources the investigation began after a man reportedly told a family member he had murdered someone and was driving in the Hemet area with the victim’s body inside his vehicle.
The subject was known to have multiple weapons, had threatened suicide by police officers in the past, and was known to have a police scanner.
Authorities initially tracked the subject using his cell phone after the man called a family member. Although officials were able to determine the man’s general area, they were no longer able to track the subject’s movements after he turned his cell phone off and refused to answer it.
Riverside County Sheriff’s Star-9 circles overhead during the initial part of the investigation. Robert Carter/Public Safety Incidents photo
City of Hemet police officials requested assistance from the Riverside County Sheriff’s aviation unit Star-9 in locating the man’s vehicle. The vehicle was reported to be a white or silver, 2003 Ford Explorer.
Aviation members in the sheriff’s helicopter began searching the last area where the suspect was known to have been and eventually located the SUV in a remote and hilly area southeast of Gibbel Road and State Street towards the south end of the city.
The aviation crew advised there were heat signatures inside the SUV and its windows were fogged over.
Police and sheriff’s officials rushed to the area and located two people inside the Ford.
Police and fire radio traffic at the time indicated officers on-scene reported finding one person requiring immediate medical treatment and another person who was deceased.
The person requiring medical treatment was a man who has not yet been publicly identified by officials.
Hemet police officers return to their vehicles after safely detaining a man who claimed to have killed someone. Gary Rainwater/Hemet News photo
City of Hemet firefighters and American Medical Response medics were requested to respond to the scene to evaluate and treat the man who authorities pulled from the SUV. Medics eventually transported the man to an area hospital. His condition was not immediately known.
As of 6 p.m., numerous police and sheriff’s officials had congregated in the area where the mans vehicle was located. Forensic investigators and detectives had also responded to the location, which was quickly cordoned off as a crime scene.
Officials have not made any statement yet regarding the deceased person who was located inside the SUV and were expected to release more information in a later press release.
This is a developing story. More information will be updated as it becomes available.
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From John Strangis:
Hemet: 01-24-2017 at approximately 4:00 PM, Hemet Police responded to reports of a murder suspect driving around with a body. Police helicopter units tracked and located the suspect vehicle on a dirt road off State Street and Gibble Road. When ground units arrived at the location, they found a Ford Explorer SUV with a tube attached to the exhaust and the interior fogged out. The suspect was attempting to commit suicide but was rescued by officers and taken into custody. This is an ongoing investigation and details are still emerging.
Contact the writer: [email protected]
Trevor Montgomery spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg in an off-duty accident.
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including the Robert Presley Detention Center, the Southwest Station in Temecula, the Hemet Station, and the Lake Elsinore Station, along with many other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, Personnel and Background Investigations and he finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator.
Trevor has been married for more than 26 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and has 13 children and 12 – soon to be 13 – grandchildren.
marples father was also in prison for murdering a little girl