Tipster » An anonymous person called 911 to say the man was in a South Salt Lake home.
By Bob Mims
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
Updated:01/09/2010 09:43:58 AM MST
Federal marshals arrested a California murder and child-rape suspect, one of the FBI's Most Wanted fugitives, early Friday when they and other officers raided a home in South Salt Lake.
Kenneth David Howell, a convicted felon wanted in California for murder and rape, as well as aggravated sexual assault of a child, was found hiding in his aunt's home near 3800 South and McCall Street (250 East). U.S. marshals, along with South Salt Lake police and members of the multi-agency Joint Criminal Apprehension Team (JCAT), took Howell into custody without incident about 1:30 a.m.
South Salt Lake police Sgt. Gary Keller confirmed that Howell, 44, was booked into Salt Lake County jail on a federal custody hold order, awaiting expected extradition to California. Also arrested during the raid was Timothy Ray Slaughter, 37, wanted on Salt Lake City and Murray arrest warrants for alleged drug and theft offenses.
Howell, who had been considered armed and dangerous, was sought in the Aug. 24, 2009, slaying of his wife, Tammy Lynn Howell, 34, in their Lake Los Angeles home. She was found in a bedroom, her hands tied behind her back with duct tape and a plastic bag taped air-tight over her head. Howell also is accused of having raped his 13-year-old stepdaughter after the killing, in the same room, next to her mother's body.
The victim's body was later found by her 14-year-old son, several hours after Howell fled the scene, saying he was going to work. He never returned.
Jim Phelps, a supervisory U.S. marshal overseeing JCAT, was particularly proud of Howell's apprehension.
"Just when you think you've seen the worst of the worst, someone like this guy comes along. It just never ceases to amaze me how many truly horrible people there are out there," he said.
Sgt. Kenneth Clark, a homicide investigator with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, told The Salt Lake Tribune that when he first responded to the crime scene last summer, he came upon a "horrific scene."
"I'm just very glad he's off the street," Clark said, adding that he intended to board the first flight he could to Salt Lake City on Friday to confront Howell and seek his extradition to Los Angeles.
"First, I'll have a talk with him, see if there's anything he wants to say," he said.
On Oct. 16, a federal arrest warrant was issued for Howell -- who has a criminal rap sheet including previous felony convictions for burglary and assault -- after he was determined to be on the run to avoid prosecution.
Clark said it was while he was investigating the slaying and rape that he learned that "Howell had been arrested for the same sort of thing" in Fresno in 1987. There, he learned, Howell was initially charged with having choked his girlfriend to death. Prosecutors eventually dropped the case, apparently because they lacked sufficient evidence to guarantee a conviction.
"That was back before we had the kind of DNA testing we have now," Clark said, adding that "Fresno had told us they would be very interested in knowing" if Howell was apprehended.
Howell's freedom began to unravel when an anonymous tipster called 911 about midnight with information that he was in the South Salt Lake home, Keller said. The caller mentioned that Howell had been profiled on the television program "America's Most Wanted."
However, it turns out that episode highlighting the Howell case has not yet aired. Jenna Naranjo, a producer with the program, told The Tribune on Friday that her show had actually planned to be in Los Angeles to film a re-enactment of the crime this weekend.
"He was definitely on our radar," she said. "We've actually been coordinating with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department the past two months to put this together. So, we don't get to claim him as a capture, but we're just as happy that he's in jail."
While several South Salt Lake police officers were dispatched to watch the home, JCAT was notified and by 1 a.m., more than 20 law officers had surrounded the scene.
"We weren't going to give this guy any chance to get away, not based on these charges against him," added Phelps.
The house was approached at 1:15 a.m., and an unrelated man gave permission for a search. Howell was found hiding inside a bedroom closet and did not resist arrest.
"We're happy that now he's sitting in jail [and] eventually [will] be extradited," Phelps said.
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