Police find dead man in hotel room

Lolita Harper

COSTA MESA -- A 42-year-old Newport Beach man was found dead and with

head injuries Sunday morning in a hotel room, police said.

Neal Sheldon was found about 9:30 a.m., after police responded to a

call from a staff member at Country Inn & Suites, 325 Bristol St., said

Costa Mesa Police Lt. Dale Birney. Officers who found Sheldon said the

injuries were not self-inflicted, Birney said, and an autopsy was

ordered.

Costa Mesa Police Lt. Tom Curtis, who is leading the investigation,

said autopsy results, released Monday, suggest Sheldon’s death may have

been murder. Curtis declined to elaborate on the severity of the wounds

or a possible weapon.

Officials at the Orange County coroner’s office also declined to

release additional details regarding the cause of death. Deputy Leslie

Meader of the coroner’s office said she could not release any details

surrounding a “suspicious death.”

The room was registered to Sheldon, who had checked in five days

earlier, police said.

Curtis said the assailant or assailants are unknown, and no suspects

are in custody. He also declined to confirm if Sheldon had been staying

at the hotel alone.

“It’s obviously under investigation,” Curtis said.

Costa Mesa officers were at Country Inn & Suites on Monday for further

investigation. A hotel management representative was unavailable for

comment.

This is the first murder this year in Costa Mesa, and there have been

a handful of arrests on attempted murder charges in recent months.

Sheldon’s death marks the third murder in the Newport-Mesa area this

year.

Karen Elaine Madik was arrested May 16 on suspicion of murder after a

man was shot dead in her Newport Beach apartment.

A day later, William Foster Armendizo was arrested on suspicion of

killing 29-year-old Jessica Martin. Autopsy results concluded Martin died

of “mechanical smothering and blunt-force trauma to the head.”

* Lolita Harper covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at o7 lolita.harper@latimes.comf7 .