A Riverside man was arrested after his roommate’s body was found buried in a makeshift grave in a backyard, police said.
Officers went to the 8700 block of Sylvan Drive Tuesday evening after receiving reports that Bradley Minder, 31, had not been seen or heard from for several days, the Riverside Police Department said in a news release.
During their investigation, officers learned that one of the occupants had recently made statements claiming he had killed his roommate, police said.
Detectives searched the house and saw what appeared to be a crime scene in the yard.
Investigators from the department’s Robbery-Homicide Unit were called to the scene, along with medical examiners and cadaver dogs to search the property.
The dogs alerted police to an area in the yard where detectives found human remains, police said. The victim was later identified as Minder.
Detectives then arrested and booked his 48-year-old roommate, Richard Thomas Martinez, on suspicion of murder.
Detectives said they believe the two men had an altercation that led Martinez to kill Minder. Police have not released additional details about what sparked the altercation between the two men, or how Minder was killed.
Anyone with additional information is asked to contact Det. Ricky Barajas at (951) 353-7213 or ebarajas@riversideca.gov.
