Couple Stabbed In Their Murrieta Home, Police Arrest Suspect With K9 Officer Assistance

MURRIETA, CA — A Murrieta woman was injured and her husband fatally stabbed by an assailant early Wednesday, prompting a police response that sent the neighborhood into lockdown, officials say. After an hour-long search, Murrieta officers and a K9 unit located and arrested the suspect in the fatal attack.

Manuel Arturo Alvarez, 36 of Modesto, was booked at the Cois Byrd Detention Center and is being held at the Southwest Detention Center on $4,000,000 bail on multiple pending felony charges, including murder, attempted murder, and burglary in the first degree, according to jail records. Alvarez awaits his court appearance on Friday at the Murrieta Southwest Justice Center.

Just after 8:15 a.m., a 911 caller alerted authorities that she and her husband had been attacked by an unknown person in their home, near Whitewood Road and Dove Hollow Lane.

Police arrived to find she had been stabbed in the head with a screwdriver, and her husband, an unidentified 70-year-old man, was deceased following being stabbed with a knife. The suspect, later identified as Alvarez, had fled the scene, according to Durrant.

Officers then launched an extensive search in the area both on the ground and from the air. The nearby Alta Murrieta Elementary School was placed on soft lockdown and residents outside were told to return home and lock doors and windows until the suspect was found.

By 9:30 a.m., Alvarez was located near Whitewood Road and Dove Hollow Lane. A K9 officer made the arrest, as the suspect hid and refused to come out from the bushes where he was hiding, Durrant said.

As of Wednesday at 7 p.m., the woman was being treated for injury and was in stable condition at a nearby hospital, according to Durrant. The suspect was treated for injuries sustained during the K9 apprehension and then booked on pending murder charges.

Any witnesses to this incident who have not already been interviewed by the police are encouraged to contact Detective Munyer at (951) 461-6365 or tmunyer@murrietaca.gov.

This report has been edited with updated jail records information.