The Press-Enterprise Riverside, California
Murrieta man charged with murder in wife's death
10:56 PM PDT on Thursday, May 22, 2008
By TAMMY J. McCOY and SARAH BURGE
The Press-EnterpriseWeeks after a 40-year-old Murrieta mother was found beaten to death inside her home, authorities Thursday charged her husband with murder for financial gain.
Kelle Jarka, 39, was deep in debt, and in the weeks before Isabelle Jarka's killing took out life insurance policies in her name valued at more than $1 million, Murrieta police Sgt. Jim Ganley said.
Prosecutor John Davis said his office charged Jarka with first-degree murder and the special circumstance of murder for financial gain. The charges make Jarka eligible for the death penalty or life in prison.
Police arrested Jarka at the Southwest Justice Center's family law court Thursday morning as he attended a hearing to regain custody of his two children, who have been staying with their maternal grandparents, Ganley said.
On April 28, Jarka called police about 8:45 a.m. reporting that his home had been burglarized. He didn't mention anything about his wife's death for the first 26 seconds of the call, a police news release said.
Jarka told investigators he went out to buy coffee and baby formula. When he returned he found a door forced open, the house ransacked and his wife bloody and unconscious on the master bedroom floor.
One of the Jarkas' children, a 12-year-old girl, had spent the night with her grandparents, who live across the street. But it appears the couple's 6-month-old boy was in the master bedroom at the time his mother was killed, Ganley said.
An autopsy revealed that Isabelle Jarka suffered at least 11 blows to her head, but the murder weapon has not been found, Ganley said.
Detectives concluded that Jarka staged the crime scene to make it appear his home was burglarized and destroyed some physical evidence before calling police.
Jarka's statements to police and his actions were valuable to authorities, Davis said.
"The significant evidence in this case is the inconsistent stories about what happened," Davis said.
The inconsistencies pertained to where Jarka was before his wife's death, what he did in the days after and how he handled himself, Davis said.
At the Tamarisk Street home of Isabelle Jarka's parents Thursday, her brother-in-law, Paul McGraw, said they were aware Isabelle and Kelle Jarka were having marital trouble, but had no inkling of their money problems. The couple appeared to be doing well financially -- they had two Lexus vehicles and an expensive powerboat, he said.
McGraw said the family doubts that Isabelle knew the extent of her husband's financial problems either. Family members described Isabelle as unfailingly kind and generous, but also naïve.
"She was easily taken in by people," her sister, Laura McGraw, said. "She was very trusting."
Jarka was "very controlling" and secretive about his personal affairs, Paul McGraw said. Outwardly, he seemed to be a nice person and a great son-in-law, often going out of his way to help his in-laws, McGraw said, but he had a "darker side."
The family confronted Jarka after Isabelle's death but he denied having anything to do with it, McGraw said. Since then, McGraw said, the family has avoided speaking with him. They don't even know if Isabelle's remains have been released to Jarka, McGraw said.
Family members said they were convinced from the start that Jarka was responsible for Isabelle's death. But weeks later, her sister Maritza Trelata said, they still cannot fathom his motives.
"We'll have to live with that forever -- why."
Reach Sarah Burge at 951-375-3736 or [email protected]
Reach Tammy J. McCoy at 951-375-3729 or [email protected]
