Motive remains a mystery after west-side homicide

Petaluma police are working to put together the pieces of what sparked last week’s homicide in a sleepy west-side neighborhood.|

Petaluma police are working to put together the pieces of what sparked last week’s homicide in a sleepy west-side neighborhood. While they continue to investigate the motive, the department is confident they have the sole shooter, Mikol Wayne Stewart, 37, of Santa Rosa, in custody.

“We know for a fact that he did this crime,” said Lt. Dan Fish. “We also know there were no other suspects involved.”

Stewart did not enter a plea during his arraignment on Monday. He next heads to court on Oct. 2 to face charges of homicide.

The quiet of the afternoon was shattered shortly before 4 p.m. on Sept. 10 when gunshots rang out from a home on Suncrest Hill Drive. Within minutes, police were on scene and found Arturo Hinojosa, 49, dead in his Petaluma home. A woman who was at the scene was able to provide police with a good description of the suspect.

“The witness had an opportunity to see the suspect during the altercation,” Fish said. “She got a good look at him.”

Using text messages and other communication from Hinojosa’s cellphone, police were able to determine several people “who appeared to have conflicts with the victim,” Fish said. Detectives used that information to create a photo lineup that was shown to the witness, who identified Stewart as the shooter.

“That’s enough probable cause for an arrest,” Fish said.

With information from the primary witness and other neighbors, police learned that Stewart was driving a black truck with a red ATV in the back. Police across the county kept an eye out for the suspect’s vehicle, which was finally spotted around 2 a.m. Stewart was taken into custody and, after a police interview, booked into the Sonoma County Jail.

The incident marked Petaluma’s first homicide in more than two years. In April 2012, beloved Petaluma school teacher Kim Baucom Conover was shot and killed by her husband as she sat in her attorney’s office making plans to file for divorce.

(Contact Emily Charrier at emily.charrier@argus courier.com)

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