City News Service
A 42-year-old man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend and dumping her body in a Palm Springs field must stand trial on a murder charge, a judge ruled Monday.
Ron Martinez is charged in the March 9, 2007, death of Karyn Kleine, whose partially buried remains were found the following September in the dirt field by a man walking his dog.
After hearing testimony from two witnesses, Riverside County Superior Court Judge David Downing ruled there was enough evidence to proceed to trial.
The judge ordered Martinez to return to court June 7 for a post-indictment arraignment.
Kleine was reported missing on March 11, 2007, by her then-boyfriend, 44-year-old Patrick Ross, when she failed to show up for a lunch date and did not answer her phone.
Kleine's car was found six days later in the parking lot at the Indio Fashion Mall on Highway 111 at Monroe Street. Blood droplets found inside the vehicle linked Martinez to her disappearance, police said.
Martinez was arrested in November 2008 in Battle Mountain, Nev., a small community northeast of Reno.
Martinez had quit his job and left the area a short time after Kleine's disappearance, according to the prosecution.
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