SHERIFF REVISES ACCOUNT OF KARDIAN MURDER: MANHUNT NABS SUSPECT RICHARD DEAN NEFF; EYEWITNESS TELLS HER STORY

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 UPDATE: NEFF ARRESTED:  The suspect was apprehended this afternoon(Sept. 17)  by the San Diego Fugitive Task Force, the Sheriff’s Department reports. He was arrested at 425 W. Beech Street in the Little Italy neighborhood of San Diego and will be booked into Central Jail. San Diego News Network reports that Neff surrendered peacefully.Below is our story including interviews with an eyewitness and family member of the victim shortly before Neff's arrest.

 

By Mick Roberts

 

September 17, 2009 (San Diego’s East County)—A wanted bulletin issued by the San Diego Sheriff’s office on September 8 has been revised to remove language suggesting that a fist-fight occurred prior to the death of Ronald Kardian, who was beaten on Labor Day at a home in the 4100 block of Avoyer in La Mesa. An eye witness has informed East County Magazine that the victim was beaten without provocation while awakening from sleep; two sources reveal that the victim was weakened from medical treatments. The suspected killer, Richard Dean Neff, is a former boxer with a criminal record, ECM has learned.

 

“There was no evidence of a fight,” Lt. Dennis Brugos, homicide detective for the Sheriff’s office, told East County Magazine. “We are convinced based on witness statements that this was not a mutual combat. We interepret this as murder.”

 

Brugos expressed disappointment that a Sheriff’s communication officer sent out erroneous information, which multiple department representatives have suggested may have been based on initial radio calls. “People shouldn’t say anything about homicide cases, because we know what we can release and what we can’t.”

 

Sheriff’s officials declined to discuss Neff’s background. But a check of court records in El Cajon and San Diego revealed multiple criminal records for a Richard Neff. In addition, a 2000 San Diego Union-Tribune story reported back in 2000 that Richard Neff, then 37, had “escaped again” and described him as “one of the most wanted suspects in San Diego.” The story described Neff as a parolee eligible for a life sentence under the three strikes law if apprehended. It also detailed efforts by a law enforcement task force and SWAT officers to apprehend Neff. Raids were conducted on residences in Spring Valley and police subsequently chased Neff through El Cajon, but pulled off when he drove through a school zone.

 

Neff, now 47 (born June 6, 1962) is 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighs 220 pounds, has brown hair and blue eyes, and multiple tattoos , according to the Sheriff bulletins, which also stated he could be driving a white BMW convertible. ECM has received a tip that he may have since obtained a white van.

 

A June 1986 article in the Union-Tribune provides further details into Neff’s past. Neff, a boxer who represented the state in 1984 at the Golden Gloves Nationals and won most of his 40+ amateur fights, attended Monte Vista and San Diego high schools, according to the article. He also suffered serious injuries in a car accident on Highway 94 that threatened to end his boxing career, suffering two broken legs, a broken right arm and severe concussion. He’d been slated to fight in July 1986 at Jack Murphy Stadium (now Qualcomm Stadium) and was considered a “can’t miss” pro prospect by Mike Altinger, president of Golden Star Promotions. But according to the article, Neff blocked the pathway of another vehicle and got into an altercation, when he was struck and injured by a third vehicle.

 

Additional corrections were made from the Sheriff’s original bulletin, sent to the media, http://apps.sdsheriff.net/press/Default.aspx?FileLink=57d03663-c573-4178... in a revised bulletin which was posted at the Sheriff’s website following our inquiry, but which was not sent to media http://apps.sdsheriff.net/press/Default.aspx?FileLink=6ac10156-1b06-46f9....

 

The original version also stated that Neff was a known methamphetamine user known to carry a handgun. Those details have been removed from the revised bulletin, which still describes the suspect as “armed and dangerous.” Oddly, the revised version also has removed the name of the victim.  Both bulletins state that Neff is a transient who may be driving a white BMW convertible. In addition, the original bulletin stated that Kardian returned to his residence after the attack, dying at 7 a.m. after he was taken to Grossmont Hospital. Kardian’s girlfriend, however, says he came to her home after the beating.

 

In an exclusive interview with East County Magazine, Katz Rhoads said Kardian was her boyfriend and that he came to visit her the night of the killing. “I used to live at this house on Avoyer and I wanted nothing more than to get out of there,” said Rhoads, who claimed she had money and a check stolen. According to Rhoades, multiple tenants were ordered evicted without notice after two others were arrested on unrelated charges. She said the female landlord called Richard Neff for assistance to oust a male tenant who objected to the eviction.

 

“I still had a vehicle parked at this address, so the next night I came over with the intention of moving the vehicle; it had three flat tires,” she said. “I was waiting for a friend to come bring me a tire.” Around 3:30, “Ronnie” Kardian came to visit but wasn’t feeling well.

 

“Ronnie has hepatitis,” she said. “He was going through interferon and rivavirin treatment. These are chemotherapy drugs; they make you feel very ill. He was still working seven days a week, pushing himself…usually he’d lay down each day, he would get muscle cramps, bone aches real bad and nausea.”

 

According to Rhoads, Kardian smoked marijuana to ease his nausea, then fell asleep on the couch while she was rubbing his legs. Rhoads also fell asleep. Kardian “dropped his weed pipe on the floor,” sparking a vocal objection from a woman who began yelling and summoned Neff.

 

“Richard put his hands above his knees and got in Ronnie’s face,” she recalled. “Ronnie had just put his feet on the floor. Richard said `What are you doing brother?’ and Richard blind-sided him on the left side. He hit him right above the ear on the left side, then he bent over again and said the same thing. Ronnie said, `I’m just waiting up, give me a minute.’ Then he hit him on the other side.”

 

Rhoads said she sought help from others present, then turned to see “Richard Neff just pummeling Ronnie in his ribs. According to Rhoads, one of the women encouraged Neff to beat up Kardian. “I went into the room and asked `What the f*** is the matter with you?” said Rhoads, who claimed others present refused to help and that Richard threatened to beat her up as well.

 

After the attack, Rhoads said she took Kardian to her residence and urged him to get medical attention for his injured ribs and bloodied eye. But Kardian, a parolee, feared he would get in trouble for being out past his curfew in order to spend time with her and initially refused to seek medical treatment, she recounted tearfully.

 

He later awoke sweating, then complained of being freezing cold, but still resisted treatment. “He didn’t want to go to a hospital because he’d be in trouble with his parole officer.” He also feared losing his employment, she said. “ He had this job, working at NASSCO seven days a week as a pipefitter.”

 

In the early morning, he suffered a “seizure or something” and told her he couldn’t breathe. Rhoads called 911. “His eyes were open and I tried to do CPR for like 10 minutes, then they came and worked on him like 30 minutes,” Rhoads said, choking back tears. “When they took him, they wouldn’t let me ride along…so he had to die alone.” He was pronounced dead around 7 a.m. at Grossmont Hospital.

 

Rhodes told ECM that she fears Neff and has gone into hiding. She believes he is a white supremacist and said followers have “Heil to Richard Neff” tattoos. Various comments posted on articles on the Neff case at multiple media sites have suggested Neff is involved in the white supremacy movement. However, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a national center which tracks hate crimes and hate groups including white supremacists, confirmed it has no record of Richard Neff or Richard Dean Neff.

 

Rhodes said mutual acquaintances have informed her that Neff is known to frequent El Cajon, Lakeside and Spring Valley. She hopes to see Neff brought to justice, along with others who instigated him to attack Kardian or failed to intervene.

 

“Ronnie and I both had past lives, not ones we are proud of, but we found each other and we were changing our lives,” she said, adding that she has medical problems and fears for her life as an eyewitness to the murder. But she concluded, “If the last thing I do on this earth is to get Richard Neff out in the open, I would be very pleased with that.”

 

Posters identifying themselves as relatives of Neff defended him in Internet comments posted at local news sites reporting the story. “My father is a good man and did not have the intent of killing this man,” Richard Neff Jr. posted at a Channel 8 News website, adding, “what i have heard is that the other man was also on porole [sic] and a drug addict did anyone think that ron may have said something to my father and start it my dad dosent [sic] start anything unless someone goes around saying things about it.”

 

A poster stating she is Charlotte Neff, Richard Neff’s mother, wrote on the same site, “I know he did not kill this man, he may be a drug addict but that is a disease…We are not ony praying for my son but also for rons family.”

 

Kardian’s mother, Kay Kardian, spoke with ECM. She confirmed that her son was too weak to fight and was taking interferon. “I would run hot baths because his joints hurt so bad,” she said, adding that she saw her son the day before he died. The night he was battered, he “wanted to get some comfort from his girlfriend,” she confirmed. “I tried to get him to stay home, I said `Please stay home.’”

 

According to Kardian, her son suffered a ruptured spleen from the fatal attack. “I understand there was 12 people in this house when that happened and nobody did anything,” she said, adding that for Neff, “his fists were his weapons.”

 

Her son had spent much of his own life in prison on drug charges and a felony stabbing charge, Kardian acknowledged, adding that she has heard Neff met her son. But she added, “For the last two and a half years, he had rehabilitated his life. He worked every day. Even when he was sick, he never missed a day…I loved my son and he didn’t deserve this,” she concluded. “I just don’t want his death to be in vain.”

 

A reward of up to $1,000 has been offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Neff.  Anonymous tips may be made to San Diego County Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.  In addition, anyone with information is encouraged to contact Detective Tsuida, Homicide Detail, at (858)974-2321 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. On weekends or holidays, call the San Diego Sheriff's Communications Division at (858)565-5200 and refer to San Diego Sheriff's case #09058294.

 

Mick Roberts is a San Diego County-based writer who has worked for newspapers in multiple states.
 


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Comments

stay down

OK check it out . first of all all these comments are all hear say . none of you truly know anything and if you did you sure the heck would not be posting stuff on the Internet .

yes he is an amazing boxer and yes he has fathered some children . yes he has been in and out of prison for most of his life . so who the hell are you to judge . let me guess your still bitter because you are not his ... if you in fact do have a child by him, why would you be posting stuff about him on the Internet especially in a negative manner , regardless of his mistakes you should respect yourself and your child enough to not be putting your life on blast all over the world wide web. you are asking who am I well I am Carri and I am in fact his step daughter . I am ashamed by those of you who have the nerve to disrespect him like this .. on the Internet . so if you do in fact think you have the right to judge then please may you cast the first stone...
I am not saying that he has not done some bad things but once again those are his mistakes mistakes that only he can stand before god and be judged .. I love you thump er stay down love . when your right Ur right and when Ur wrong your right miss you . don't ever forget you are loved.

I have read all of these quote details , even if Neff did inflict bodly harm to him , Ron chose to not seek medical help according to this article when Neff left Ron was alive , Ron made a choice to not seek med advice, therefore neff can not be held responsible , he is not a killer he did not go there to kill that man , you have spoke of his boxing carear, if he wanted to kill that man he could have done so with one strike , he did not kill that man . I am sorry for Ron that his choices led him to his death . I am also sorry for his family . but neff can not be responsible for this mans death .

Richard Neff

I too knew Richard way back when, I was 14 when we met and I think he was 23. I went to many of his fights. I gave birth to a son when I was 15 that Richard fathers, I believe at this point he has like 13 kids or something. I believe mine is the oldest. He has never seen my son and never will. He never hit me but he does have a temper. I really wonder if the accident had never happend if his life would be differnt now. It is sad, he had so much potnetial.

Sad

I knew Richard from when we were kids about 13, we hung out all through high school and the beginning of his boxing career. He had so much potential; I really thought he would go far. Even then he had problems with his temper and often picked fights with people for no reason. I am truly saddened to see that this is where life led him. It is disheartening to see how much damage one person can do to so many lives.

richard dean neff

IM VERY SORRY FOR YOUR FAMILIES LOSS,ANYBODY THAT KNOWS RICHARD KNOWS HES CRAZY AS ALL HELL,I SPEAK FROM EXPERIENCE,RICHARD GREW UP WATCHING HIS MOM SUFFER FROM PHYSICAL ABUSE, HE WAS A GREAT BOXER, I WENT TO HIS AMETURE FIGHTS AS WELL AS PRO FIGHTS ITS TO BAD THAT HE DIDNT CONTINUE PRO BUT ONCE AGAIN RICHARDS TEMPER ENDED HIS REAL CARRER AS A FIGHTER,THE GIRL WHO CALLED FOR HIS SO CALLED ASSITANCE IS JUST AS RESPONSIBLE FOR RONNIES DEATH,RICHARDS FAMILY KNOWS HE CRAZY AND OF COURSE THEY WANT TO PROTECT HIM, BUT ITS TIME FOR HIM TO FACE UP TO HIS CHARGES, RICHARD HAS MANY CHILDREN AND ONE OF THEM IS MINE, I HAVE PROTECTED MY CHILD FROM HIM HERV WHOLE LIFE,MAY RONNIE REST IN PEACE NOW THAT RICHARD HAS BEEN CAUGHT FOR SOMR ODD REASON I FEEL LIKE THEY WILL CONTINUE TO LET HIM OUT THEY ALWAYS DUE,RICHARD HAS HURT SO MANY PEOPLE MEN,WOMEN AND YOUNG GIRLS,HE SURE DID BEAT THE HELL OUT OF ME MANY TIMES, IM LUCKY TO BE ALIVE,I WAS ONLY A LITTLE GIRL MYSELF WHEN I SUFFERED HIS BRUTAL DAILY BEATINGS