Kriti Mehrotra
With lies, betrayal, greed, and duplicity at every step of the way, the case of Ron Presba’s horrific June 2008 homicide can only be described as equal parts twisted as well as gripping. After all, as carefully chronicled in ‘The Seduction’ podcast series, it’s essentially a tragic love story that plays out like a film noir where lust, obsession, and manipulation are both expected yet surprising. So now, if you wish to learn more about the same, including the details of who Ron was as an individual as well as his vicious murder and indisputable assailants, we’ve got you covered.
How Did Ron Presba Die?
At the age of 54, Ronald “Ron” Roy Presba had not only created a good life for himself and his family in Garden Valley, California, but he was also a well-liked, hard-working local. There is actually nobody that didn’t hold him “in the highest regard” within the community, and some even believed he was so kind he “would give a person the shirt off his back.” According to his two daughters, Ron always tried to focus on the good in people — whether he knew them or not — which is why his sudden death genuinely shook the entire El Dorado County to its very core.
It was June 25, 2008, when the authorities responded to a blaze near the Chili Bar Canyon area of Highway 193, just to find Ron’s charred remains inside his completely burned-out vehicle. His identity was confirmed by the coroner’s office quickly, and although it initially seemed like his passing was the result of a freak accident, the blood near the scene told a different story. His wife, Patty, who had reported him missing earlier, insisted he had no enemies. Yet, the fact that Ron’s skull was shattered made the detectives speculate his crash into the deep ravine was intentional.
Who Killed Ron Presba?
Ron’s wife Patricia “Patty” and her lover Jaime Ramos are responsible for his murder—while she was 47 at the time of the incident, the latter was just 21 (younger than any of Patty’s children). However, this fact didn’t come to light until around a month later because not only did Patty have an alibi, but she’d also masterfully tried to place the blame on Jaime alone. During the initial interrogation of Patty, despite the fact officials noticed blood stains in the couple’s home, her mention of Jaime living with them for a few days before abruptly fleeing to Texas made them focus on him first.
That’s when a co-worker from the California Conservation Corps came forward to reveal Patty’s affair with Jaime (her trainee), but she managed not to implicate herself too much here as well. She originally denied ever being involved with him yet ultimately claimed she’d decided to call things off days before her husband’s demise owing to Jaime’s behavior and Ron’s knowledge of the liaison. Patty’s lie, though, was caught once recent CCTV footage of them at a car dealership showed them holding hands without restraint, only for investigators to learn they’d gone missing.
There was evidence of disturbance at the Presba family home, leading to an APB being put out, especially since Patty had told the cops she was afraid of what Jaime might do due to her rejection. The duo was located in Salt Lake City, Utah, the next day (late July 2008), but Jaime was the one bearing three bullet wounds, all from a .44 Magnum owned by Patty. It was then that Jaime learned his partner was blaming him for everything, going as far as to allege he’d kidnapped her while she shot him in self-defense, which is when he decided to reveal the entire truth in detail.
As per Jaime, Patty was the mastermind behind Ron’s homicide since she was the beneficiary of his $150,000 life insurance policy that would double if he passed in an accident. He insisted he went along with it because she’d told him her husband was both physically and sexually abusive, driving him to take a hammer to his head before disposing of the remains just like Patty had wanted.
“I kept telling myself, this is for her, this is to make her happy,” Jaime once said in a ‘Dateline’ episode, admitting he went too far for love. However, he added that Patty repaid him by shooting at him while they were staging the “kidnapping,” yet he still traveled with her in fear and love. Eventually, while Jaime pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in connection to Ron’s case, Patty pleaded guilty to both first-degree murder as well as the attempted murder of Ron and Jaime, respectively.
Read More: Where is Patty Presba Now?
