Man Arrested in Woman’s 2022 Killing at Laguna Niguel Hotel After Months of Investigation

Man Arrested in Woman’s 2022 Killing at Laguna Niguel Hotel After Months of Investigation
Police tape blocks off a crime scene in Sacramento, Calif., on Feb. 28, 2022. (Andri Tambunan/AFP via Getty Images)
City News Service
2/19/2023
Updated:
2/19/2023
0:00

LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif.—A man sought by authorities for months has been arrested in the 2022 killing of a woman at a hotel in Laguna Niguel, authorities said Feb. 18.

David Moreno, 38, of San Juan Capistrano was arrested Friday after homicide detectives “conducted an exhaustive and thorough investigation,” the Orange County Sheriff’s Department wrote on Twitter.

The OCSD had asked for the public’s help to locate Moreno in October.

The victim was identified as 36-year-old Griselda Petra Pinedareta.

Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched at about noon on Oct. 15 to the hotel in the 28000 block of Camino Capistrano to aid an “unresponsive” woman in the room, according to Sgt. Todd Hylton. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene, and investigators suspected she was a homicide victim.

Pinedareta’s 1999 Honda Civic was missing, but investigators later recovered it, Hylton said.

Anyone with information helpful to investigators was asked to call the sheriff’s department at 714-288-6740. Orange County Crime Stoppers will accept anonymous tips at 855-TIP-OCCS.