A neighbor of mine in the La Riviera apartments back in the '90s gave birth in her apartment and placed the newborn baby in the Dumpster. I think that the baby was found alive. What was the woman's name and what happened to her?
– Doc, Sacramento
On Jan. 6, 1996, a baby boy, possibly less than an hour old, was found alive in a trash bin at Glenbrook Apartments on La Riviera Drive.
According to stories in The Bee, residents of the apartment complex heard a baby crying and found the 6-pound, 6-ounce infant in a bag.
The mother turned out to be Judy Ann Johnson, a married 33-year-old Rosemont resident and mother of three children.
Johnson pleaded no contest to attempted murder and was sentenced to five years in prison.
On Oct. 4, 1997, Bobby Ingram of Carmichael was killed inside an apartment. There was a trial, I believe, and the accused, whatever happened to him? Was he sentenced?
– Lori Dean-Gillespie, Sacramento
Shane Garrett pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Robert Ingram, 19.
According to stories in The Bee, an initial report that an intruder fired a single shot into the Barcelona apartments on Manzanita Avenue proved to be a story that Garrett, then 18, concocted after he mishandled a gun and accidentally shot and killed Ingram.
Garrett later told sheriff's investigators that he had just bought a pistol and was showing it to his friends in the apartment. He said he wasn't familiar with firearms, and while he was demonstrating the gun, he pulled the trigger and a single round hit Ingram in the chest.
According to Sacramento Superior Court online records, Garrett was sentenced to six years of probation.
Back in the late '90s, a high school friend of mine was killed at Rio Linda High School by the janitor. Her name was Michelle Montoya. What happened to the janitor?
– Sacrich, Sacramento
Alex Dale Thomas, 49, is on death row at San Quentin State Prison.
He was sentenced to death in November 2000 for the May 16, 1997, murder of Rio Linda High School senior Michelle Montoya, who was found in the school wood shop. She had been stabbed, bludgeoned and slashed to death.
Despite a criminal history of eight felony convictions, including another killing, Thomas was working at the school as a substitute janitor.
The California Supreme Court in February upheld Thomas' conviction and death sentence.
A close friend of mine named Eric Diehl was murdered by his wife in or around 2005 and kept in the backyard wrapped up in a tarp for around a month. Whatever happened to his wife and when did it actually occur?
– Joseph, Sacramento
The body of Eric Justen Diehl, 32, was found in October 2003 underneath blankets and a tarp in a bedroom of a south Sacramento home.
Diehl's wife, Michelle Dufur, was arrested on suspicion of murder after she reported her house burglarized and showed a deputy the body.
According to a story in The Bee, Sacramento County sheriff's investigators also found inside the home glassware and chemicals that appeared to be part of a methamphetamine lab.
According to Sacramento Superior Court online records, Dufur pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced in May 2005 to 15 years to life in prison.
Dufur, 58, is incarcerated at Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla.
– Cathy Locke
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