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Officials Seeking Slaying Suspect

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By LISA A. DAVIS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 8, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - Three days before she was found shot to death on her front porch, Diane Yeager-Lombard flagged down a deputy working a call on her street and told him she was being harassed by a Verizon subcontractor.

She said she met Justo Arturo Moreno-Gonzalez when he was installing telephone lines in front of her house and he offered to spread dirt on her driveway to level the surface, a Pasco County Sheriff's Office report states.

After that, he returned every day with more dirt and helped her with other outdoor projects at her small horse ranch home at 9665 Bahia Loop.

Yeager-Lombard told Sgt. Jeffrey Peake she became uncomfortable when she suspected Moreno-Gonzales had romantic feelings for her.

The week before her fatal shooting, she reportedly had told Moreno-Gonzales she didn't want to pursue a relationship and asked him to leave her alone. He continued showing up and calling her until a few days before she spoke with the sergeant, according to the report.

The subcontractor never threatened her, she told Peake, but she was worried because the man had become angry when she had rejected him. Moreno-Gonzalez told her he served five years for assault in Mexico, the report said, and she was afraid because of his temper and his alcohol consumption.
Peake told Yeager-Lombard how to file for a restraining order, but she said she didn't want to "stir things up" if Moreno-Gonzalez had gotten the message. She said she wanted to alert authorities to the situation in case it escalated into stalking, the report states.

Sheriff's officials released the report Wednesday and have identified Moreno-Gonzalez as a suspect in Yeager-Lombard's slaying.

Moreno-Gonzalez, 45, an illegal immigrant from Mexico whose last known address was in Auburndale, might be driving a blue or gray 2002 Toyota Tundra X-Cab truck, authorities said.

He worked at Integrated Drainage Solutions in Bradenton, according to sheriff's office spokesman Kevin Doll, but hasn't been at work or seen at his mobile home since the killing.

Detectives say Yeager-Lombard, 51, likely was fatally shot Saturday. A neighbor heard a gunshot that evening, then saw a blue pickup racing up the road, but nothing else. Gunshots are commonly heard in the rural area of central Pasco, and there's a shooting range nearby.

Later Saturday, before dark, the neighbor saw Yeager-Lombard lying on her back on her front porch but thought she was sunbathing. The slaying was discovered Sunday.

Pasco detectives continued investigating Wednesday but say Moreno-Gonzalez might not be in the area, Doll said. They also have notified immigration officials.

"Since he is illegal, it's possible he could be trying to get back to Mexico, which has been the case with other homicide suspects we've had in the past," the spokesman said.

Anyone with information about the shooting should contact the sheriff's office at 1-800-854-2862. Authorities say Moreno-Gonzalez should be considered armed and dangerous.

Reporter Lisa A. Davis can be reached at (727) 815-1083 or ldavis@tampatrib.com.

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