Tray Poker didn’t give a lot thought to the possibility encounter he had Nov. 29 along with his former work lunch buddy on the sprawling campus of the VA Loma Linda Well being Care System.
Poker was simply arriving for work shortly after daybreak that day, however his buddy — Paul Alexander Warren, a former stock administration specialist on the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial Veterans Hospital — was now not employed there. After exchanging pleasantries, the dialog shortly gravitated to the slaying of Warren’s former boss, VA Loma Linda Chief Provide Officer Joshua Watson, 4 days earlier.
“I asked him if he had heard the rumors,” Poker instructed the Southern California Information Group, referring to hypothesis {that a} disgruntled co-worker may need killed Watson. “He said not to believe rumors because they were speculation. He then pointed at a warehouse supervisor walking by and said, ‘It could be him for all we know.’
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“Then he asked for my cellphone number and walked away,” stated Poker, a finance technician at VA Loma Linda who has identified Warren for about two years.
Lower than two weeks later, Poker was surprised to study he had been speaking to Watson’s suspected killer.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Division introduced Dec. 11 that Warren, a 58-year-old Navy veteran who lives within the Mira Loma neighborhood of Jurupa Valley, had been arrested by Philadelphia police for the slaying.
“I was so shocked and couldn’t believe he did it,” stated Poker, who added that he doesn’t know why Warren was at VA Loma Linda on the morning of their encounter on the campus parking storage.
Warren was taken into custody Dec. 9 by Philadelphia police on a fugitive warrant after he tried to replace his data to entry the Naval Aviation Provide Depot within the metropolis. He’s being held on the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, which homes greater than 1,900 inmates, pending extradition from Philadelphia to California.
Watson’s household has declined to touch upon the slaying, different on a GoFundMe web page for his two daughters that claims he died from a “senseless act of violence.”
Authorities allege Warren used a knife to kill Watson within the work-related assault however haven’t launched any details about how he was recognized as a suspect or offered particulars of a motive.
Nevertheless, for no less than 4 months earlier than the slaying, Warren had talked about his employment difficulties at VA Loma Linda throughout weekly lunches at Shakey’s Pizza Parlor in Redlands, complaining to Poker that his bosses needed to fireside him for unauthorized absences because of an arm harm.
Poker requested Warren why didn’t he request go away from the VA for the harm. Warren instructed him he suspected a go away could be denied as a result of he had missed a lot work for an unrelated again harm.
VA Loma Linda officers have confirmed Warren now not works on the facility, however haven’t stated when his employment terminated and whether or not he was fired or resigned. Poker stated he has realized from a number of workers that Warren might have been let go for unexcused absences.
Though Warren claimed to have harm his arm, Poker stated he had by no means seen him in a sling previous to their parking storage encounter. He now wonders if Warren might have harm his arm in an altercation with Watson, a 43-year-old former officer within the Marine Corps who was killed Nov. 25 in his Rancho Cucamonga dwelling.
Poker, who lives in Beaumont, stated it’s additionally suspicious that Warren borrowed $400 from a VA Loma Linda Transportation Division worker shortly after the murder and believes he might have used the cash to journey to his hometown of Philadelphia as a result of he has kinfolk there.
Whereas allegedly on the run, Warren posted a number of non secular memes on the Fb web page of Poker’s father on Dec. 2. Warren’s personal Fb account accommodates a number of non secular posts, together with one which reads, “Don’t worry about anything. Instead pray for everything. Tell God what you need.”
Poker stated Loma Linda workers stay in shock over Watson’s dying and a number of other really feel horrible for spreading rumors that one other employee — not Warren — may need killed the revered supervisor over a dispute.
“Some people feel ashamed for blaming somebody else and others are sad over losing Josh,” he stated.
A celebration of life for Watson is scheduled for Dec. 21 at Better Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles.
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