Photo: El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office
Days after findingthe apparent remainsof aCalifornia mom missing for nearly two months, authorities allege her husband killed her because she was a “witness to a crime” and he wanted to stop her from testifying.
But thefour-page criminal complaintlists multiple felony convictions for the suspect, 44-year-old Anthony Gumina, including those for selling and possessing methamphetamine, and alleges that “Heather Gumina was a witness to a crime and was intentionally killed to prevent her from testifying in a criminal proceeding,” according to the document.
Heather, a mother of three, was killed on or about July 16, according to the document. That’s the same day she was last seen in the Pleasant Valley area following her release from a hospital, where she was treated for a broken collarbone.
Anthony made his initial court appearance Tuesday on the homicide charge following his arrest Friday, when he was initially picked up on an outstanding warrant on a domestic violence charge. His formal arraignment was set for Sept. 24, reportsKCRAandKTXL.
His attorney was not identified.
Anthony Gumina.
• Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage?Click hereto get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.
The sheriff’s office went public July 19 seeking help with the search for Heather, and on August 9 announced that her abandoned 2005 black Infiniti G35 had been found.
Supervisor Says Victim Was ‘Positive Person’
“She kept her personal stuff kind of to the side,” Waldow tells PEOPLE. “No matter what was going on, she was always a positive person. Even if she seemed a little sad, she did a wonderful job, nobody knew.”
“She had told me some stories of the past about some things that had happened, but you know … I didn’t notice anything wrong,” says Waldow. “She was very happy.”
Even after the broken collarbone incident — Heather told Waldow that she tripped and fell — “she just kind of brushed it off,” says Waldow. “She was joking around about how she might come in and work.”
After upgrading the arrest of Anthony to a charge of first-degree homicide, the sheriff’s office has declined to release any other information “to protect the integrity of this homicide investigation,” according to the agency’s statement on social media.
Jail records show Anthony is being held without bond in the El Dorado County jail.
source: people.com
