Dead And Buried: A True Story Of Serial Rape And Murder. Corey Mitchell
wondered how a former convict could live on such beautiful property. Then he rememberedthe nearly inaccessible road and the remoteness of the location.
It made sense.
Zaragoza aimed his Jeep toward the house, when out of nowhere a bulky figure appeared in front of him. The parole officer took a quick breath yet again and realized it was his man—Rex Krebs.
Zaragoza parked his Jeep Cherokee and sat inside. The formerconvict, dressed in a blue short-sleeved oxford shirt, slowly ambled up alongside the vehicle until he was standing at the window. He seemed to wince in pain. Zaragoza noticed that the stocky Krebs had been limping and wore a weight belt around his ribs.
“What happened to you?” Zaragoza inquired.
Krebs tensed up and stammered, “I, uh, I—I hurt myself on the wood.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Oh, I, uh, fell off the wall into the firewood.”
Zaragoza slowly exited his automobile. He watched carefullyas Krebs kept reaching for his ribs. He did not believe him. He thought about the newspaper report that stated the intruderinto Aundria Crawford’s duplex entered through a tiny window. Furthermore, Krebs’s injuries were not consistent with someone falling onto a pile of wood. He had no cuts or abrasions on his hands or arms.
“Do you want to come on inside?” Krebs asked his parole officer. It was common for Zaragoza to enter Krebs’s residence.He nodded behind his dark sunglasses and followed Krebs inside. Other than the stammering response, Zaragoza believed that Krebs appeared calm and in control. They walked to Krebs’s home and entered through the back door.
Zaragoza had no idea what Krebs was really hiding.
“I need to get another urine sample from you Rex.”
“Sure. C’mon in.”
The two men entered Krebs’s barn apartment. Zaragoza gave him a plastic cup. Krebs took care of business and gingerly returned the specimen to his parole officer.
Zaragoza knew he needed to get out of there.
Immediately.
THIRTEEN
David Zaragoza returned to his parole office in downtown San Luis Obispo. Once settled in, he contacted San Luis Obispo Police Department detective Jerome Tushbant. Zaragoza informed the detective about his suspicions concerningKrebs, including his knowledge of Krebs’s criminal sexual assault history, the isolation of Krebs’s home, and his questionable rib injury. Despite the information provided by Zaragoza, Tushbant did not rush to act on Krebs. Instead, he sent the information to the Department of Justice representativesin town, who came on board only three days earlier. The DOJ representatives handled all seemingly innocuous tips to be sure nothing was overlooked. Since there were more than five hundred tips in just a few days concerning the Aundria Crawford disappearance, there was plenty of information to sift through.
Karren Sandusky headed up the California Department of Justice Sexual Predator Apprehension Team, out of Fresno. She was responsible for these less-than-high-priority tips in the Aundria Crawford case. On Friday, March 19, she receivedinformation from Detective Tushbant of Rex Krebs’s background and noticed a couple of sexual assaults from 1987. At approximately 1:30 P.M. she decided to give Krebs a call.
It was probably nothing, but what the hell.
Sandusky picked up her phone and dialed Krebs’s work number at 84 Lumber.
He did not seem shocked to hear from her. “I’m surprised you guys didn’t contact me after that first girl went missing,” he stated.
Sandusky and Krebs agreed to meet at his house at 6:30 P.M.
Sandusky hung up the phone and quickly got a hold of Zaragoza. She introduced herself and let him know that a meeting had been set up with Krebs.
Sandusky also contacted Department of Justice special agent Frank Navarro. The two agents drove out to Krebs’s residencein the canyon so they could “become familiar with the location.”
After checking out the property, Sandusky and Navarro drove back into town to meet David Zaragoza. They arrived at his office at 3:00 P.M., made the round of introductions, and got down to business. Zaragoza had Krebs’s file open on his desk and the three officials began to discuss what to do next.
Zaragoza called Parole and Community Service Division (P&CSD) parole agent Victoria Wood and P&CSD administratorDan Hoy and spoke with them about the need for a search warrant. Sandusky called the DOJ office again for more assistance. Special Agents Vince Jura and Juan Morales helped in the search.
All five personnel headed out to the isolated barn in the woods. On the way out Sandusky contacted Krebs again at 84 Lumber. She wanted to let him know that they were on their way to his property and asked if it was OK for them to begin the search. He asked that they wait until he arrived and that he would let them search then.
Once Krebs showed up, the officers began their search. They took several items from his home, including a pair of black boots, an 84 Lumber wooden box, two metal chains, index cards with lists of women’s telephone numbers on them, work-related paperwork, 84 Lumber receipts with femalecustomers’ names on them, including their phone numbers and home addresses. They also discovered CO2 cartridges and BB pellets.
Zaragoza was relieved.
They had found what they needed to bring Krebs into custodyfor further questioning without violating his basic civil rights. The pellets were a violation of his parole, in that he was not allowed to carry a weapon or simulated weapon of any kind. Zaragoza asked Krebs if he owned a BB gun.
“Yeah.” He solemnly nodded.
“Does it look like a revolver or semiautomatic?”
“Yeah.”
“Where is it?”
“84 Lumber.”
FOURTEEN
The following day, at 6:15 A.M., Zaragoza, Agent Navarro of the DOJ and one of his assistants, plus two San Luis Obispo police officers organized a stakeout across the street from 84 Lumber. Their plan was to wait for Krebs to arrive at work, arrest him, and then locate the BB gun.
Krebs pulled up in his Ford Ranger. He exited his vehicle and entered the store. Less than one minute later, the five officersgot out of their cars and entered behind him. Krebs looked up, saw Zaragoza, and nodded toward him.
“Rex, turn around,” Zaragoza calmly ordered. Krebs turned his back to the parole officer. Zaragoza slapped a pair of handcuffs on him.
“Where’s the BB gun, Rex?”
“It’s under the cash register,” he stated, and nodded in the correct direction.
Zaragoza reached under the register and found the BB gun. It looked exactly like a semiautomatic pistol.
“Rex, you are under arrest for violation of your parole requirements.Specifically, possession of a firearm or simulated firearm.”
Zaragoza glared at the forlorn convict to see if he had any expression.
All he saw were Rex Krebs’s tears.
Zaragoza, Sandusky, and Navarro returned to Krebs’s residenceat 3:00 P.M. to conduct a more thorough search. While at the barn Zaragoza received a phone call from San Luis Obispo police detective Sue Murphy, who had been at AundriaCrawford’s residence the day of her abduction. Detective Murphy clued Zaragoza in to what was missing from Aundria’sapartment. He mentioned several items such as CDs by George Strait and Korn, videotapes, and something unique to the missing college student: an eight ball key chain.
Detective Murphy, along with Officers Janice Mangan and Mark Brady, showed up at Krebs’s home to assist in the search. The six authorities began to comb over the house in a methodical fashion. They secured