MAN ARRESTED FOR MURDER OF WOMAN WHOSE BODY WAS DUMPED IN PINE VALLEY 15 YEARS AGO

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By Miriam Raftery

March 22, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – “Cold case” homicide investigators from the San Diego Sheriff’s homicide detail and the District Attorney’s office today arrested Russell Upton, 36, for the August 1995 murder of his wife, Marilane Abueg.

 

Upton was arrested in Reno, Nevada. At the time of the crime, the couple lived in Mission Valley. Abueg’s body was discovered August 24, 1995 about eight miles north of Interstate 8 on Kitchen Creek Road in the Pine Valley area. She had been reported as a missing person by her parents on August 20th. A post mortem examination determined the manner of death to be homicide. She was survived by a three-month old son, Christopher Michael.

 

Abueg’s father, in a 1995 interview with Channel 10 news, made clear that he suspected Upton was responsible for his daughter's death. He said he once walked in on Upton choking his daughter and provided hospital records that he said indicated past abuse. Upton has denied killing his wife and said he last saw her before she went shopping, but family members have indicated he provided conflicting dates. View a video of Channel 10's 1995 interviews in this case.

 

Cold case investigators recently developed evidence which supported the issuance of an arrest warrant for Upton. To maintain the integrity of this investigation and the prosecution of this case, specifics as to the recently developed evidence will not be detailed at this time, the Sheriff’s office said.

 

If you have information about this crime, call the homicide detail at (858) 974-2321 or after hours at (858) 565-5200. You may also call Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-TIPS(8477).
 


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