Son kills 75-year-old mom, then sets fire to her home to destroy evidence, CA cops say
A man is accused of shooting his 75-year-old mother to death and setting her house ablaze to cover up her killing, California deputies say.
Fire officials initially responded to a Little River home for a report of a structure fire on Feb. 20, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said in a Feb. 24 news release.
After arriving, fire officials told deputies they knew the resident, Linda Mercurio, who lived at the home.
Mercurio, who lived alone, was missing, and her parked car was burned, deputies said.
The fire’s intensity caused the four-story home to collapse, making it difficult to fully put out the fire to search for Mercurio, deputies said.
Fire officials also told deputies that Mercurio’s son, later identified as Fletcher Pinkham, 39, fled to a “nearby wooded area” and refused medical treatment, deputies said.
Deputies said they detained Pinkham because of the “suspicious nature” of the scene.
When deputies searched the area where Pinkham was found in the woods, they said they found guns, ammunition, clothes, belongings and a car “all believed to belong to Pinkham.”
Deputies said based on the evidence at the home and in the woods, they determined something “violent” happened between Pinkham and Mercurio.
Further, the evidence, as well as Pinkham’s statements, led deputies to believe Pinkham fatally shot his mother, then set fire to her home to destroy evidence, authorities said.
Pinkham was arrested and is facing a murder and felony firearm charge, deputies said. He is being held on $1 million bail.
Days after the fire cooled, deputies said they, along with other agencies, searched for Mercurio’s remains on Feb. 23.
Deputies said they found and recovered the remains they believe to belong to Mercurio after hours of searching the rubble.
Testing will confirm if the remains are Mercurio, according to deputies.
Little River is about 130 miles northwest of Sacramento.
This story was originally published February 26, 2024 at 12:21 PM with the headline "Son kills 75-year-old mom, then sets fire to her home to destroy evidence, CA cops say."
