At 5:36 p.m. Friday, a Woodland woman dialed 911 and said her husband had seen one man dragging another by the feet into a neighboring house, leaving a swath of blood behind.
Four minutes later, Melvin Crouch called police. "I just killed my landlord," Crouch told the dispatcher, police said.
Woodland police officers arrived and found Keith Campos, 33, dead from stab wounds.
Crouch, 37, was arrested without incident and booked into the Yolo County jail. Local newspaper photos showed the large man being led away, his face stained with blood.
Crouch is scheduled to be arraigned today in Yolo Superior Court on charges of first-degree murder with the use of a knife.
The gruesome scene played out in the 600 block of Thomas Street, a quiet residential area on the east side of Woodland, where neighbors remained shaken Monday.
Police Lt. George Bierwirth said that a motive for the killing was "not really clear yet." Crouch lived in the same house with Campos, his landlord.
There was no history of police being called to the house for disturbances before Friday, he said.
At the gray frame ranch house, candles, flowers and cards were set by the front entry. Someone had written across the door in marker pen: "RIP Keith. You were loved and will be missed by all who knew you." An "RIP Keith" message was also written on the mailbox out front.
A man who identified himself as a relative of Campos was moving items out of the house. His face distraught, he said he couldn't answer questions. "It's just too painful right now," he said.
Standing in front of her home Monday, the neighbor who first called 911 said she didn't want to give her name because she feared for her family's safety.
She said her husband had been working in the garage Friday afternoon when he saw one of their neighbors dragging another man into the house across the street. He told her to call police.
Bloodstains were still visible over the weekend as gawkers came by and took photos with cell phones, she said. Later a group of men arrived, scrubbed down the concrete and took away blood-soaked carpet.
Until Friday, the neighbors at Campos' house were quiet and kept to themselves, the woman said. They would occasionally wave at her from across the street.
The only incident she remembered was a minor one when their pit bulls got loose and neighbors called animal control.
The street, with a neighborhood park and children walking home from school, was peaceful in Monday's autumn sunshine.
But the woman said she'd slept little since Friday's violence. "It shakes your whole sense of security," she said.
Call The Bee's Hudson Sangree, (916) 321-1191.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.