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Ex-detective says he first suspected victim's boyfriend in Modesto murderJun 28, 2011 (The Modesto Bee - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- A former police investigator testified today he initially set his sights on the boyfriend of a missing Modesto woman 12 years ago, but authorities never found evidence that linked him to her disappearance. Dena Raley-McCluskey was last seen in October 1999. Her skeletal remains were found buried in shallow grave on Oct. 31, 2007, in Tuolumne County. Kevin Bertalotto testified Raley-McCluskey and her boyfriend Mark Keough had a volatile relationship that included 25 reports of domestic disputes. Raley-McCluskey or Keough would call law enforcement officials to report arguments, threats of violence and assaults. Bertalotto said Raley-McCluskey was sometimes the alleged aggressor, and Keough was arrested three times on suspicion of domestic violence. He testified Keough allegedly threatened to kill Raley-McCluskey and himself with a .357 caliber gun. "They had a rocky relationship," said Bertalotto, who was with Modesto police in 1999 and now works as an investigator for the Stanislaus County district attorney's office. "(Keough) was my focus. He had a lot of history there." A subsequent police search of Keough's central Modesto home on Serena Avenue found no indications of an attack, blood or signs that evidence had been cleaned, he testified. Police collected knives from the home and Keough's Ford Ranger pickup, but crime analysts found no traces of human blood. The investigation into Raley-McCluskey's disappearance remained a mystery for eight years until Modesto police questioned Russell Todd Jones in October 2007. Jones, 51, is accused of killing Raley-McCluskey, 36, in October 1999. She was his roommate. Jones told investigators he placed her body inside a pickup bed's toolbox and drove to his parents' property in Groveland, where he buried her. Jones initially told investigators he found Raley-McCluskey dead, panicked and didn't tell anyone because he was afraid police would not believe he didn't kill her. His defense attorney, Frank Carson, has said his client had been questioned by police for a long period and was suffering from psychological stress when he gave investigators a phony story about punching Raley-McCluskey shortly before she died. Bee staff writer Rosalio Ahumada can be reached at [email protected] or (209) 578-2394. To see more of The Modesto Bee, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.modbee.com/. Copyright (c) 2011, The Modesto Bee, Calif. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. |