West Sacramento police arrest suspect in 2009 cold case of woman found dead in her home

Detectives investigating a cold case on Saturday arrested a man on suspicion of homicide in the death of a woman he shared a home with 13 years ago in West Sacramento.

Robert Spurlin Jr., 59, of Sacramento was arrested in connection with the murder of Monica Elise Turknett, the West Sacramento Police Department announced Monday in a Facebook post.

Officers on June 13, 2009, were called to a home in the 400 block of Maple Street in West Sacramento for a report of a dead woman. The officers arrived and found Turknett dead inside the home. Police said Spurlin was living with Turknett at the time.

No arrests were made and the cold case remained unsolved for more than a decade.

In April, the Police Department’s Investigations Unit reviewed the homicide case and continued the investigative work done by detectives in 2009.

The detectives who took on the cold case spent months obtaining additional information and asked for help from the public “to provide invaluable insight about Turknett, her life and the events leading to her murder in 2009,” police said.

The information led to detectives arresting Spurlin on Saturday. The Police Department did not release any other details about the homicide investigation, including Turknett’s manner of death.

Investigators asked anyone with information relevant to this homicide investigation to call the West Sacramento Police Department crime tip hotline at 916-617-4747 or send an email to PoliceCrimeTips@cityofwestsacramento.org.