By Minyvonne Burke—
NBC News
A 96-year-old widow who was getting ready to bake her birthday cookies was murdered in 2022 in her home in Montecito, California, in an alleged contract crime that made her the victim of an “evil and complex network of financial exploitation.”
Violet Evelyn Alberts was found dead in her bed on May 27, 2022. Deputies with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office began investigating her death after finding a broken window in the back of her home, he said. Sheriff Bill Brown said in a statement Thursday.
The medical examiner concluded that the elderly woman died of asphyxiation and that it was a homicide.
During the investigation, agents learned that Alberts had been tricked into signing over ownership of her home in an affluent Santa Barbara County neighborhood.
They also discovered that
she had been the victim of a murder-for-hire plot.
Violet Evelyn Alberts was murdered in 2022 at her home in Montecito, California.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office
Brown said investigators identified a woman named Pauline Macareno, 48, as the “central figure in the manipulation and deception” of Alberts.
Macareno was “referred” to Alberts' home, according to the sheriff.
Alberts, who had no immediate family in the area, lived in a “very valuable home.”
It is unclear who connected Macareno to the victim.
Macareno allegedly “took advantage of Alberts' vulnerability” in 2020 and began to financially abuse her, after falsifying documents and establishing fraudulent entities to gain control of her assets, Brown told reporters.
Macareno's plan involved offering Alberts a reverse mortgage that
“ultimately led to the fraudulent acquisition of his property.”
Brown declined to go into detail about the motivation behind the murder, but asserted that “in the eyes of Pauline Macareno, Ms. Alberts was living too long.”
Macareno was arrested in June 2022 and charged with elder abuse, fraud, and tampering with legal documents.
She was recently sentenced to six years in state prison for fraud related to the Alberts case.
Additional charges are pending, Brown added.
Pauline Macareno.Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office
More arrests in the case
Harry Basmadjian was arrested on January 2, Henry Rostomyan on February 24 and Ricardo MartinDelCampo last Tuesday, the sheriff said.
Rostomyan and Martin Del Campo are accused of making a “scoping trip” to Alberts' home on May 24, 2022, according to the sheriff.
It is unclear what Basmadjian's alleged involvement was.
Rostomyan, Martin Del Campo and Basmadjian were arrested on various charges ranging from conspiracy murder to solicitation of murder, Brown said.
Rostomyan, 33, and Martin Del Campo, 41, are being held in Santa Barbara County Jail without bond.
Basmadjian, 58, was in federal custody in Los Angeles on an unrelated charge and “suffered a life-threatening medical emergency” that
left him essentially brain dead
, the sheriff added.
Brown declined to explain how the detained men are connected to Macareno.
Henry Rostomyan (left) and Ricardo Martin Del Campo (right).Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office
The sheriff described Alberts as a “vibrant” widow and a “esteemed figure” in the Montecito community.
She had moved to the area after the death of her husband, David Alberts, in 1993.
“Despite her age, she had remained active and engaged,” the sheriff added.
“And she was known for her warmth and the sociability of her.”
Alberts had no family living nearby and “relied on his friendships and connections within the neighborhood.”
The night she was murdered she was at home baking cookies to celebrate her upcoming birthday.
“The ingredients for those cookies were found on the table when on May 27, 2022, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office responded to a terrifying call to check on the well-being of Violet Alberts,” Brown added.
His caretaker discovered his lifeless body.
Brown mentioned that investigators continue to investigate to find out additional information about the case.