Youth, 17, Held as Murder Suspect

A husky youth with scratches on his arms and wrists and two .22 caliber weapons in his possession was being flown to Santa Barbara this afternoon from Sacramento as a suspect in the Tuesday slaying of Lompoc high school sweethearts.

Robert Lee Bell, 17, who had been living with an uncle at a Lompoc ranch for the past several weeks, after having been expelled from a Sacramento high school for fighting, was picked up at his home in Sacramento last night at the request of Sheriff James T. Webster. Bell was arrested on suspicion of murder and burglary.

In Sacramento, where he was held for arrival of Detective Joseph Rodriguez, Bell denied any connection with the brutal slaying last Tuesday of pretty Linda Edwards, 17, and her companion, Robert Domingos, 18. The couple was on a swimming outing at a remote beach on the Hollister Ranch 25 miles west of Santa Barbara, which was popular with youthful swimmers and surfers of the Lompoc area.

Bell claimed he had returned to Sacramento Saturday, but a local man who owns a car wash and restaurant in Lompoc, near the high school, told authorities the boy had been in his employ, and that he had paid him by check Tuesday when Bell said he wanted to go back to Sacramento.

The owner said the boy had been hired on a part-time basis after his uncle, John Kingrey, of Lompoc, who had also been working at the car wash, brought him back with him after a recent three-day trip to Sacramento.

“He was a quiet boy, and said very little,” the owner recalled.

The car wash is adjacent to a hamburger-malt shop frequented by Lompoc School boys and girls. Miss Edwards and the Domingos youth, who were planning to be married, were among the high school students who ate there, the manager said.

PICKING ON ME

In Sacramento, authorities said Bell claimed others were “always picking on me” and blamed other students for the 50 or 60 fights he had at C. K. McClatchy High School, from which he was expelled in November. He had attempted to enlist in military service but was rejected due to a back ailment, the officials said.

Bell told them the week-old scratches on his arms and wrists were caused by a puppy. Authorities here speculated that Domingos had received facial bruises in struggling with an assailant.

The guns found with the boy were believed to be a revolver stolen from Roy Bland, of West Ocean Avenue, Lompoc, and a rifle taken from his uncle’s ranch. Bland reported his gun missing Thursday, and told deputies he believed it had been taken Saturday or Sunday prior to the Tuesday slayings. Bell, he said, was the only one he could think of who knew the gun was kept under his mattress. Bell’s uncle, Kingrey, and Bland, live on neighboring ranches about five miles from the city.

PINKER TO RETURN

Authorities have determined that the weapon used in the slayings was .22 caliber, but have not concluded whether a rifle or revolver was used to pump the 19 bullets into the teenagers.

Ray Pinker, Los Angeles Police Department forensic chemist, is returning home today from an Arizona business trip and will go to work tomorrow on analysis of bullets and other materials picked up at the crime scene Wednesday night and Thursday, Sheriff Webster said.