Suspect wanted for questioning multiple murders killed near Nevada line

A California man wanted for questioning in several murders in the state was killed by authorities near the Nevada border in early November.

Jesus “Chuy” Guzman, 34, who was wanted for questioning in seven murders and suspected in an eighth according to a report in the San Diego Union-Tribune, was killed by authorities during an operation to apprehend him on Nov. 8 in Charleston View, California, which sits just over 20 miles from the Pahrump area, just across the California line.

Deputies with the U.S. Marshals Service Pacific Southwest Regional Task Force, along with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, were conducting a fugitive apprehension in an area in Charleston View on Nov. 8 when the suspect, Guzman, brandished a handgun, according to a news release from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Dept. Information Bureau. That led to an officer-involved shooting, the sheriff’s department stated.

“The suspect, Jesus Guzman, was deceased at the scene and a weapon was recovered,” the release from the sheriff’s office stated.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department was being assisted by the Riverside Sheriff’s Department in the investigation. The Inyo County Sheriff’s Department is handling the officer-involved shooting in Charleston View.

According to a Nov. 8 report in the San Diego Union-Tribune, authorities began to search for Guzman after three decomposing bodies were found at a property he rented in Littlerock, California in September.

Also in September, authorities located two additional bodies at Guzman’s rental property in Littlerock, the report stated.

According to the Union-Tribune, Guzman was named a person of interest in the shooting deaths of Geraro “Jerry” De Luna, 33, and Mariano Panduro Campos, 41; both were found dead on Campo’s property in Littlerock, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lt. Joe Mendoza, the Union-Tribune wrote.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department was also looking for Guzman as a suspect in a “botched” home-invasion robbery in Menifee, California in February, according to the Tribune. Guzman, along with Rodolfo Garcia, 35, of Perris, California, were both suspects in a home-invasion robbery that claimed the life of Silvano Gutierrez Esteves, 43, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department stated in a release.

Garcia has been arrested and charged with murder, according to authorities.

Contact reporter Jeffrey Meehan at jmeehan@pvtimes.com