Community in shock after Happy Valley woman found murdered, husband arrested

ANDERSON — A man is in custody and a community is in shock after a woman was found murdered Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 6. The deadly incident happened at a private residence on the 5400 block of Pine Street, near Roy and Bonnet lanes, in the Happy Valley area west of Anderson.

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Deputies were sent to the home to conduct a welfare check just after 5 p.m., after receiving reports of a potentially suicidal man who had possibly told a friend he may have killed his wife during an argument earlier in the day.

Kenneth Karl Vorreiter Jr., 63, was arrested this week after officials found his wife’s deceased body inside the couple’s Happy Valley home. SCSO booking photo

When deputies arrived at the home they contacted 63-year-old Kenneth Karl Vorreiter Jr. The man reportedly told deputies he had assaulted his wife earlier in the day and she was possibly dead inside the home.

When the deputies went inside the residence they found a woman’s lifeless body and she was pronounced dead at the scene. The victim’s name has not yet been released by officials, pending further investigation and notification of her family.

Vorreiter was interviewed by officers and detectives and detained for further questioning. He was later arrested and booked into Shasta County Jail for murder where he remains in custody on $1 million bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned Friday, Nov. 9.

Although Vorreiter has no previous criminal history in Shasta County, he has 1993 and 1998 charges from Sonoma County for inflicting corporal injury on a spouse. It was not immediately known if those earlier charges involved the woman who is now dead.

Based on the circumstances, detectives assigned to SCSO’s Major Crimes Unit responded to the scene and assumed the investigation. Throughout the evening crime scene personnel and other officials were seen at the residence searching for, documenting, photographing, and collecting evidence related to the homicide.

In the wake of the murder and arrest, neighbors who live near the couple’s home have reported hearing loud arguments and yelling from the home in the past. While some neighbors have said they were shocked to hear reports of the woman’s death, others said they weren’t surprised due to the ongoing problems and issues at the troubled home.