Man Arrested for Hendry’s Beach Murder
Rudy Gallegos, 21, Arrested Sunday at Home on San Pascual Street
Authorities have detained 21-year-old Rudy Gallegos in connection with the April 15 murder of Robert Simpson near Hendry’s Beach, a Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department spokesman confirmed Monday evening.
Since the knife attack, information from authorities had been slim until news early this morning that the Sheriff’s Department had arrested two females, one 19-year-old and one 17-year-old, for accessory to murder over the weekend.
One, Brittany Weiler, just turned 19 the day before the incident. She also had a misdemeanor charge filed against her on April 13, though it isn’t clear what that charge is for; she is scheduled to appear in Superior Court on Tuesday morning. The prosecutor in that case, Senior Deputy District Attorney Hilary Dozer, didn’t return a phone call Monday afternoon.
On the day of Weiler’s birthday, her mother, Cheryl Weiler, wrote on Facebook that she hoped her daughter “keeps herself safe and NO POLICE!!” On Friday, the younger Weiler was arrested Friday for accessory to murder; the 17-year-old female juvenile was arrested on Saturday for the same charge. On Sunday, authorities served a search warrant on the 600 block of San Pascual Street in Santa Barbara’s Westside neighborhood at the home of Gallegos, who was located and then arrested.
Witnesses described the stabber as a Hispanic male, slightly overweight with a shaved head and tattoos on his head. A photo of Gallegos on his MySpace page — the profile is set to private so nothing beyond a photo can be seen — appears to match that description. His name is listed as “WICK3D ASS LIL RASCAL” and his location is Santa Bruta (a popular nickname for Santa Barbara in some circles), although the profile hadn’t been updated since last August.
According to authorities, the attack appeared to be a result of an altercation between patrons at the grassy park area behind the Boathouse restaurant. Simpson, 44, was stabbed in the neck, and died shortly after that.
Weiler is in Santa Barbara County Jail on $1 million bail, while Gallegos is being held on no bail and the juvenile female is in Juvenile Hall. Anyone with further information on what happened is encouraged to call (805) 681-4171, an anonymous tipline.
