By Donna Beth Weilenman
Staff Reporter

A Hercules man suspected of murdering four people — and connected to the disappearance of two Vallejo women —was shot to death at a Richmond supermarket by California Highway Patrol troopers Tuesday night after a high-speed highway chase that ran from Pleasant Hill to Oakland, authorities said Wednesday.

The suspect is linked to explosives found at two Vallejo sites, and is tied to a convoluted case that law enforcement agencies still are unraveling, officers said Wednesday afternoon during a press conference in Vallejo.

The dead man was identified as Efren Valdemoro, 38, who authorities said lived off and on for 10 years in Hercules but occasionally stayed in Vallejo.

He was shot and killed inside 99 Ranch Market grocery store in Richmond’s Pacific East Mall after he threatened officers with a cleaver, Sgt. William Bradshaw of the Oakland CHP office said.

After the shooting, troopers found the body of a woman in the dark Acura the suspect had been driving. They had seen her in the car during the chase, said Highway Patrol Sgt. Trent Cross said Wednesday. Believing her to be an unconscious passenger, troopers sought to revive her until they realized she was dead. A Richmond Police officer said her body was taken by the Contra Costa County coroner’s office.

The woman was identified by Hercules Police Spokeswoman Michelle Harrington as Cindy Tran, a hairstylist who worked in Vallejo and may have been the suspect’s girlfriend.

Authorities said Wednesday the suspect may have kidnapped her from work Tuesday and strangled her.

Tran managed to call a relative and said Valdemoro had taken her by force, police said.

The dark Acura the suspect was driving during the chase is believed to belong to her, and Hercules Police said she also owned the home where they found Recardo Sales, a 73-year-old Hercules security guard they believe was bludgeoned to death Friday morning by the suspect.

Valdemoro was wanted on a $1 million arrest warrant issued by the Contra Costa District Attorney’s office in connection with the murder of the Hercules man, and he is suspected of being involved with the disappearance of that man’s 35-year-old son, Frederick, a registered nurse’s aide, who is still missing.

Authorities also suspect Valdemoro is connected to the case of two missing Vallejo women, Sgundina Allen, 67, and Marcaria Smart, 60, reported missing by their husbands Aug. 25.

Two decomposed bodies were found at Allen’s home on Upland Court, Vallejo, a few hours after the suspect was killed.

Vallejo police went earlier Tuesday to question Allen’s husband, Charles Brittenhouse, 72, about the missing women. They became suspicious when they saw flies in the house’s window. Returning later Tuesday, police were admitted into the house by Brittenhouse.

They found the bodies, sealed the home, and returned later with a warrant for a more extensive search.

Lt. Abel Tenorio initially said his department hadn’t determined whether the bodies, one found in a bedroom and the other in a shallow grave in the back yard, were the two women. Nor has their cause of death been determined, although they appeared to have been beaten.

“There was a lot of trauma to both bodies. A lot of trauma. We have no information about dismemberment,” Tenorio said. An autopsy will be performed today, he said. “We’ll know more then,” Tenorio said.

“This is like a puzzle. All the pieces are not there. You keep working it,” Tenorio said during a press conference on his department’s front lawn.

Valdemoro was known to have stayed periodically with Allen and Brittenhouse, a chemical engineer who Vallejo Police said worked in Fairfield.

A quantity of explosives, including C-4, dynamite and supplies used to make bombs, also was found at the Allen-Brittenhouse home and at a storage unit that Brittenhouse was renting near Lemon Street, Vallejo, authorities said.

Those chemicals may have been associated with Brittenhouse’s work, Vallejo police said. In the state in which they were found, those chemicals were not a danger; however, several nearby homes were evacuated, police said. Tenorio said the department was not sure why Brittenhouse was storing the explosives.

Brittenhouse was taken into custody by Vallejo Police. Tenorio said the man did not behave the way one might expect under the circumstances, but would not elaborate. Brittenhouse was sent to Solano County Jail, Fairfield, on a charge of possession of explosives.

A Cadillac Escalade, also believed to belong to Brittenhouse was found at a Hercules business park on Linus Pauling Drive Wednesday afternoon.

Valdemoro had been seen earlier in the week driving that car, authorities said. Fearing that the younger Sales’s body was in the car, Hercules Police executed a search. However, Frederick Sales is still missing.

At this point, Tenorio said, authorities aren’t sure “whether we have a victim or a suspect.” The investigation is far from complete, and the case is far from closed, he said. “There may be additional persons out there.”

The two women, as well as the Escalade, had been reported missing Aug. 25 by Brittenhouse and Smart’s husband, Joe Smart, who last saw his wife when she was driving her black Pontiac to Allen’s home.

Smart’s vehicle was recovered later in Vallejo. Vallejo Police had been searching actively for the women, and had sought the public’s help through an earlier press conference.
Bomb experts from Travis Air Force Base and agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were called to handle the ordnance.

Neighbors were evacuated from the area while the chemicals were being removed, although law officers said Wednesday they were not in a form that would explode or ignite.

In addition to the two women, Valdemoro also knew the Hercules men, Ricardo Sales and his son, Frederick.

Hercules police had been called to their home on the 1000 block of Crape Myrtle Drive Aug. 22 to break up a fight between Valdemoro and the Saleses. The argument may have been about the Saleses’ relationship with Tran, Harrington said Wednesday at the press conference.

The father and son were reported missing Saturday. Hercules police officers arrived at their home that afternoon, entered the father’s locked bedroom and found Ricardo Sales’ badly beaten body. Based on reports of loud music coming from the house early Friday, Hercules Police suspect the murder may have happened then.

The department notified the Contra Costa District Attorney’s office, which issued the $1 million arrest warrant.

Aware that the man was wanted, Pleasant Hill Police officers began the pursuit after seeing the suspect about 8:10 p.m. Tuesday in the dark Acura authorities believe belong to Tran.

California Highway Patrol picked up the chase when the suspect drove onto on southbound I-680.

The suspect, speeding up to more than 100 mph, turned onto I-580 and drove through the MacArthur Maze onto I-880 and I-80, according to CHP Sgt. Trent Cross. During the chase, troopers said they way the suspect throw something out of the car.

Troopers set out spike strips to puncture the Acura’s tires. They also tried to send the car into a spin, Cross said in describing the chase. The fleeing vehicle lost its left rear tire at one point, he said, dropping the chase’s speed to 50 to 60 mph.

In fact, the suspect was driving the Acura on three wheels for the last 20 minutes of the chase, Cross said.

The driver left the interstate at Central Avenue in Richmond, racing up to the Pacific East mall and abandoning the car outside. He was chased into 99 Ranch Market, where officers said he brandished the cleaver at them.

After he refusing to drop the weapon after repeated commands, police fired multiple rounds, killing the suspect.

Authorities said Valdemoro had applied to be a security guard, but they did not know if he had succeeded or had ever worked with the elder Sales. He had been arrested once on a drinking charge, and had no restraining order against him.