Shasta county sheriff's deputies arrested Mark Duenas for the murder of his wife Karen Duenas.
Karen Duenas was found dead in the couple's Cottonwood home on Robinson Glenn Drive, May 5th. Deputies named Mark as a person of interest shortly after but they didn't have enough evidence to arrest him until now.
The Shasta County Sheriff's Office put out this press release on the arrest: On Saturday, May 5th 2012 at approximately 0057 hours, deputies from the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office responded to 20481 Robinson Glen Drive in Shasta County for a report of a female with major injuries. Upon arrival deputies discovered the Victim, Karen Duenas, inside the residence who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Shasta County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Detectives responded and took over the investigation. Karen Duenas’ husband, Mark Duenas was named a “person of interest” during this investigation. He was interviewed by detectives but soon cut off all ties with our Office. Our investigation continued for months as there were numerous amounts of evidence located at the scene which needed to be processed. This evidence included DNA. The Department of Justice aided us in this investigation by processing such evidence. After analyzing all of the evidence and conducting a multitude of interviews, we determined that Mark Duenas murdered his wife.
The Shasta County Sheriff’s Office has been working closely with the Shasta County District Attorney’s Office. On today’s date an arrest warrant was issued on Mark Duenas. He was arrested at his home and booked into the Shasta County Jail for the murder of his wife.
Any questions in regards to this case will be handled by the District Attorney’s Office.
