Possible ”Warning Signs” before meth lab, murder arrests

UPDATE 10/11/16: On Tuesday, a Monterey County prosecutor said Jeffrey Madruga and Julie McClure pleaded not guilty to murder and drug charges. Prosecutors are accusing them of killing Ronnie Cronn, who went missing in May.

The Monterey County District Attorney’s Office believes Cronn’s body was found in Chualar, but the remains haven’t been officially identified yet. They are also accused of running a meth lab in North Salinas.

They are scheduled to be in court again Nov. 1.

PREVIOUS STORY: KION is learning new details about a Monterey County meth lab investigation and murder case. Monterey County deputies investigating a murder were led to a meth lab in Salinas. They arrested Jeffrey Madruga and Julie McClure in connection to both cases. Now Salinas neighbors tell KION they spotted warning signs months before the arrest and alerted both city and county officials.

Neighbors said they contacted officials about issues including a dog chained to a tree and a year-long roofing project. However, neighbor Ronald Thomas said the complaints went unanswered. He sent a letter to the Monterey County Health Department about the home early in 2016.

“I gave them the information I just gave you about the debris and the chemicals and I followed up with an email. I got an email reply, promising that they would look into it. And a month or so later, there was some cleanup in the driveway, but then it got cluttered again,” he said. “Some in March of 2016, I followed up with another email saying the situation is bad again and no real reply. I called several times, and I asked, because I was told the next step would be a house inspection, inside the house, but I couldn’t get any reply.”

KION reached out to the Monterey County Health Department on Thursday, but phone calls and emails were not returned.

Thomas said he emailed the SPCA for Monterey County on the home. On Thursday, SPCA officials said there were three reports of animal abuse at the home. The SPCA told KION it investigated each incident, educating and warning the home’s owners. When issues continued Thomas contacted police.

“I texted the Salinas Police Department tip line, August 8th and I got a reply but it was from another SPD. It was the Syracuse Police Department in New York,” said Thomas

“It concerns me that with this happening, what other tips may have, we may have missed some other tips that we need to know about,” said Salinas Deputy Chief Dave Shaw.

Thomas said he eventually did contact the Salinas Police Department, but didn’t see a change in activity. He is calling it a local government failure, especially when the stakes are so high.

“So whether you’re trying to get your mail, trying to sleep at night, you could be engulfed in a chemical fire, bitten by the dog, shot by one of these methamphetamine visitors at this meth lab,” said Thomas.

Police responded, saying concerned neighbors shouldn’t be discouraged by a slow response and should continue to be persistent.

“If there’s an ongoing problem, by all means, if you call the tipline or the anonymous line and you don’t get a response or you call, even our non-emergency line, and they tell you it’ll be a while but you feel it’s more of an emergency, contact the watch commander,” said Shaw. “We don’t want people to feel like we’re not responsive. I realize because of our staffing shortage, it does take some time but we want to be as responsive as we possibly can.”

KION reached out to Salinas city code enforcement officials. One person said the house has been on their radar, but haven’t released more details.

Both Madruga and McClure were in court Thursday. Defense attorneys for the suspects tell KION the arraignment hearing was pushed back to give them more time on the case.