Santa Ana : Tip Leads to Murder Suspect at Phone Booth

A tip to police in Santa Ana led officers in a small Kern County community to a man suspected of killing an Iowa couple in Oklahoma.

Santa Ana authorities got a tip that James Arthur Benzoni, 30, would receive a call at a telephone number in Arvin on Sunday at 8 p.m. The number was traced to a telephone booth, which was staked out at the designated hour, Arvin Police Chief Terry Freeman said Tuesday.

“A subject matching his description came up to the phone booth, stood around for a minute, the phone rang, and he answered it,” Freeman said. “We moved in on him and made an arrest.”

Benzoni was taken to the Kern County Jail in Bakersfield, and Oklahoma authorities were notified.

“All we got out of him is that he was a transient and that he was born in New York,” Freeman said. “Where he came from and where he was living, I don’t know.”