Cristin Smith’s motion to have charges against him for the 2006 triple murder in Pinyon was denied Friday, June 20. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Jeffery Gunther ruled that Smith must return on Aug. 1 for a trial-readiness conference.
On the night of Sept. 17, 2006, Becky Friedli, 18, her mother, Vicki Friedli, 53, and Vickie’s boyfriend, Jon Hayward, 55, were found dead at their Pinyon home. Becky’s body was found burning in a wheelbarrow outside the house. The other bodies were found inside the burning house.
On March 11 this year, both Smith, 25, and Robert Pape, 26, were arrested and charged for these murders. They were high school friends.
Smith’s lawyer, John Patrick Dolan of Palm Springs, expressed disappointment with the judge’s decision. “It is a very low standard on sufficient evidence and most favorable for the prosecution. But we have to live with that."
