911 calls came from Sutter home on night of murders

A female could be heard crying and shouting when the California Highway Patrol returned a 911 call from the Jack and Susan Martin home on the night they died, a Sutter County Sheriff's Department official said Friday.

The Martins, both 46, were memorialized Friday at the Yuba City church they attended, Calvary Christian Center. Cars were parked for blocks around the church, which was founded by Susan Martin's father.

A Loomis man, 21-year-old Joseph Hayden Simlick, is charged with the first-degree murders of the Martins.

The CHP notified the Sheriff's Department at 10:13 p.m. July 29 that it had received a hang-up 911 call and returned it only to have someone answer and hung up again, said sheriff's Capt. Lewis McElfresh.

When the CHP called back a second time, the woman could be heard crying and shouting, he said.

"(The CHP) called again and the phone went to voice mail and they left a message but did not elaborate on the message they left," McElfresh said

McElfresh said a Sheriff's Department dispatcher then called the number. The call went to a voice mail message: "This is Susan's cell, please leave a message."

A fire at the house was reported at 12:43 a.m. the following morning. The Martins' bodies were found inside.

A deputy was dispatched at 10:15 p.m., two minutes after the cell phone call to the CHP. But the CHP was unable to pinpoint the origin of the call from the Martin home at 2255 Mulberry St. in Sutter, McElfresh said.

"CHP dispatch advised us that the call was on Mulberry Street somewhere north of (Nelson Street) in Sutter but could not provide the exact location or address," he said.

A deputy spent 9 minutes in the area. He spotlighted houses, parked and listened for suspicious noises and talked to someone on the street but could not find a problem, McElfresh said.

It's not clear if the murders could have been prevented if the deputy had found the Martins' house, he said.

"We have no way of knowing for sure," he said.

Even with the cell phone number in hand, a search warrant or subpoena would have been needed to find the subscriber's name and address, he said.

"There is no official system for us to retrieve the address and subscriber immediately," he said.

Depending on which phone company is involved and the type of phone, the CHP can triangulate the call and get an approximate location "but many factors have to align to make this happen," McElfresh said.

The department had no previous calls from the cell phone and so did not have the phone number or the name of the owner in its system. The name and address were not immediately available, he said.

The Sheriff's Department has not yet commented on how the Martins died.

Their daughter, Kendall, whose relationship with Simlick reportedly ended about a month prior, is believed to have been attending a concert with friends on the night her parents died, McElfresh said.

McElfresh did not respond when asked what authorities believe happened in the house before the fire.

Simlick is being held without bail after pleading not guilty in Sutter County Superior Court. His next court appearance is scheduled Aug. 18.