Drug Dealer Slain; 2 Suspects Arrested

MOORPARK — Just three days before he was to be sentenced for drug violations, a 31-year-old small-time drug dealer and petty thief was shot to death just after midnight Wednesday morning in a squalid peach-colored one-story home.

Mark Robert McGuire was shot once in the chest about 12:30 a.m. during an argument at a home on Posita Road, said Sgt. Rod Mendoza, a spokesman for the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

“We have not determined a motive,” Mendoza said.

By late Wednesday afternoon, investigators had arrested the two men they thought were involved in the shooting, Mendoza said. After the shooting, McGuire’s girlfriend, Marsha Repich, ran to a neighbor’s house screaming that her boyfriend had been shot, the neighbor said.

“She came here asking for help,” she said.

Deputies and paramedics rushed to the scene, and McGuire was taken to Pleasant Valley Hospital in Camarillo, where he died.

McGuire was facing up to four years in state prison after pleading guilty in January to possession of 22 grams of methamphetamine for sale. He had also pleaded guilty to a petty theft charge for stealing from Longs Drugs in Moorpark that same month and to charges that he was under the influence when stopped by authorities in February.

In addition to those Ventura County cases, he had two local convictions for drug-related crimes, another for giving false information to a police officer, and another for failure to appear in court.

His sentencing was to have been Friday, according to court records.

Investigators would not say what prompted the shooting. Mendoza said only that McGuire and two friends--Spencer Arnold, 26, and Damien Armstrong, 19, both of Simi Valley--went to the home together in his burgundy 1970s-vintage El Camino.

While they were inside, there was a confrontation and one of his friends allegedly shot McGuire, Mendoza said.

The two friends fled, with Armstrong jumping into McGuire’s El Camino and Arnold fleeing on foot into a neighboring orchard, officials said.

Authorities arrested Armstrong about 5 a.m. when an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer noticed the El Camino in Oxnard.

Deputies arrested Arnold at a relative’s home in the 3200 block of Copley Street in Simi Valley about 2:30 p.m., Mendoza said.

Both were booked into the Ventura County Jail on suspicion of killing McGuire.

“Both suspects in custody less than 14 hours after the incident isn’t bad,” Mendoza said.

Repich and McGuire had been served eviction papers just a week before by their landlord, court records show.

Repich was served the notice in early July while at the county’s Ojai Honor Farm, where she was serving time on drug charges. She was released July 30, court documents show.

The notice to evict McGuire and Repich stated that the pair were behind in rent payments and had left trash and abandoned cars in front of the home.

Set half a mile back from Posita Road, the house is strewn with debris inside and out. Four junker cars sit on the property near piles of clothing, car parts, milk crates and rubbish.

“This is a rural area and I think we’ve had problems occur here, but I don’t think there’s a more lovely area,” said neighbor Gwyn Goodman.

The area is a eucalyptus-scented nook of unincorporated Ventura County just northwest of Moorpark, where citrus trees and horses outnumber people.

The solitude appeals to neighbors, who said crime is a rarity in these parts, although deputies did bust a nearby methamphetamine lab recently.

“The most exciting thing that happens around here is folks shooting rattlesnakes,” said neighbor Robyn Brunson, who sings and writes country songs professionally. “I live here because it’s quiet, you can see the sky at night. It’s usually peaceful and quiet.”

But at least one neighbor, who wouldn’t give his name for fear of retribution, said he suspected drugs were being sold from the house on Posita. He said cars ranging from Jaguars and Mercedes to jalopies would pull up in the driveway at all hours.

“There were all sorts of shenanigans there,” he said. “There were a lot of shady characters around--people you don’t want in your neighborhood or anywhere near your family . . . And that house--I wouldn’t let a dog live there, let alone people.

“Nothing like this has ever happened here before. This is God’s country.”