Murder investigation leads to arrest of Hemet man

February 28, 2020 Trevor Montgomery

HEMET — Officials investigating the December, 2019 murder of a Winchester resident have arrested a man they say was responsible for fatally stabbing the victim while he sat inside his car outside a Hemet business.

Hyder Mahdi Jaffer, 51, of Hemet, now sits in a Riverside County jail on a sole count of second-degree murder, for the stabbing death of 63-year-old, Inder Jit. His bail has been set at $1 million.

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City of Hemet police officers began investigating Jit’s murder early Monday evening, Dec. 30, after fire and medical personnel were dispatched to the 1300 block of E Oakland Ave. regarding a medical aid call after receiving reports of an unresponsive male inside a car in a parking lot, Hemet Police Lt. Jeff Davis reported shortly after the murder.

When they arrived, Hemet Fire personnel located the bloody and lifeless body of a man inside a parked red SUV, according to Davis; who reported, “Paramedics immediately pulled the victim from the SUV and began CPR and other life-saving efforts.”

Witnesses at the scene reported at the time that paramedics continued CPR for about twenty minutes before the victim, who has since been identified as Jit, was pronounced deceased at the scene.

After a months-long investigation, officials arrested 51-year-old, Hyder Jaffer for the stabbing death of 63-year-old, Inder Jit. Hemet PD photo

By the following day, officers and investigators had identified and interviewed Jaffer, at the time naming him a “person of interest” in Jit’s murder.

As the investigation continued, investigators gathered information and developed leads that eventually led them to obtaining a warrant for Jaffer’s arrest.

SEE ORIGINAL STORY: Winchester man, 63, fatally stabbed in Hemet

Based on that warrant, on Feb. 26, at about 10:20 a.m., investigators arrested Jaffer in the 1300 block of E. Oakland Ave.

After his arrest, Jaffer was booked into Cois Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta on suspicion of second-degree murder.

Davis did not specify if there was a known motive for the deadly stabbing or what may have led to the fatal encounter between the two men.

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Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, 48, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, (the now defunct) Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and Mountain Echo in Shasta County.

Trevor 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, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with 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, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.

Trevor has been married for more than 29 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 16 grandchildren.