Suspects Named in 1989 Murder of La Puente Man

After nearly 13 years, San Bernardino County District Attorney officials have named suspects in the 1989 murder of a La Puente man.

Ruben Abad, 47, of Santa Maria, and Anthony Christopher Solis, 45, of Lompoc, are suspected in the fatal stabbing of 56-year-old Herbert Santos.

Abad faced a San Bernardino Superior Court Judge on Jan. 2 at a preliminary hearing and was bound over for trial, DA officials said.

Santos was found dead on March 1, 1989 off Stoddard Road in Victorville in San Bernardino County’s High Desert, Sheriff’s officials said. The killer had stabbed him repeatedly, according to the San Bernardino County Coroner’s office.

Several pieces of evidence were collected at the time, including fingerprints, but no suspects were tied to the crime, officials said.

The case was reexamined in Oct. 2011 and the fingerprints and blood evidence was resubmitted for analysis, Sheriff’s officials said. The results came back in 2012 and tied Solis and Abad to the crime.

Abad, who was in Bakersfield at the time, was taken into custody in May. Solis was also interviewed in May but was already serving a sentence for a separate homicide at Chino State Prison.

Abad is scheduled to be back in Victorville Court on Jan. 15, according to jail records.

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