A California man was found buried in his backyard just days after complaining that his roommate had ransacked his bedroom.
Bradley Minder, 31, was found Oct. 15 in a freshly dug grave in the backyard of the home where he rented a room on Sylvan Drive in Riverside after coworkers reported they had not seen or heard from him for several days. according to the Sacramento Bee.
Police then arrested his roommate, 48-year-old Richard Thomas Martinez, who made statements suggesting he had killed Minder.
Authorities have said Martinez killed Minder during an argument, but have not specified what they were arguing about. KTLA reports.
However, Minder’s family has since revealed that Martinez had his room ransacked just three days earlier.
Bradley Minder, 31, was found on October 15 in a freshly dug grave in the backyard of the home where he rented a room on Sylvan Drive in Riverside, California.
His family have since revealed that the man accused of killing him had searched his room just three days before his body was found.
“He wanted to let me know that he is back home that he was cleaning his room because the man broke into his room and destroyed a lot of his things,” said Minder’s mother, Leona Hodo. told ABC7.
She and other family members claimed Minder and Martinez did not know each other, but Martinez occasionally stayed at the house, which belonged to his grandfather.
“Bradley didn’t really know him, the guy was sitting there somehow,” said Minder’s brother, Vinnie Casella.
“He was out of his mind,” Casella said, suggesting Martinez was on drugs.
“He was smoking meth and stuff all the time.”
The grieving brother added that his brother was ready to leave the house once he rented a new room.
He noted that Martinez had previously been arrested for disorderly conduct and possession of a controlled substance when he attacked his own grandfather and then ransacked his brother’s room.
“He never got mad at anyone, he was never an angry person, he was loving and had a heart of gold,” Hodo said.
Police arrested his roommate, 48-year-old Richard Thomas Martinez, who made statements suggesting he killed Minder
Less was the eldest son in the family who helped raise his younger siblings, his family said.
He is now remembered as kind and protective of those he loved.
“He told me everything was going to be okay and said, ‘I love you mom, you’re my rock,’ and that was the last time I spoke to my son,” Hodo said.
In a statement from the family, Minder was also described as “the gentlest soul to ever walk this earth.”
“He was a kind friend and a very loyal son, brother and uncle,” the newspaper said statement to KTLA.
“His family meant more to him than anything in the world. He forgave easily and treated everyone with pure, unadulterated love and he was a natural protector with a heart of gold.”
Less was the eldest of his family and is remembered as kind and protective of those he loved
Hodo said she now plans to be in court on Nov. 4 when Martinez is arraigned on murder charges.
He is being held without bail.
Meanwhile, Minder’s family is trying to raise money to assist with funeral expenses.
“With such short notice of his death, his mother, sisters, nieces and nephew are currently in Kansas and must travel to California,” the online fundraiser says.
By early Tuesday morning, it had raised $5,150 for the family.