California man charged with killing adoptive mother

Saturday, June 28, 2008 |
ROSEBURG — A Douglas County grand jury has indicted Gabriel Scott Riley, 29, on charges including murder, in the death of his adoptive mother and an attack on his adoptive father.
He is charged with killing Lindi Riley and trying to kill Craig Riley before setting their Sutherlin home on fire March 10.
He fought extradition from Palm Springs, Calif., where he was arrested hours after police responded to a 911 call from his parents’ home. He is held without bail in the Douglas County jail on charges of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, assault and arson.
The death of Lindi Riley, 57, a popular Sutherlin Middle School counselor, shocked the town of 7,660 north of Roseburg.
Craig Riley, 56, was treated for a knife wound to the neck and burns. He identified his adopted son as the attacker.
The couple adopted Gabriel Riley, a troubled teen, after Lindi met him through the school where she worked for 26 years.
Gabriel Riley was arrested March 10 without incident leaving a plane in Palm Springs, where he lived with his wife and two daughters.
Police records show that Craig Riley called 911 early that day, saying an intruder had cut his neck, and that he could smell smoke and hear fire alarms in the house.
Authorities saw three separate fires as they approached the home. A trail of blood led from the carport to the front door and blood was smeared on the door knob. Officers found Craig Riley on the kitchen floor holding a bloody towel to his neck. He told officers nobody else was in the house but as he was being placed in an ambulance, he said there was. But the fire was too big to allow re-entry, and Lindi Riley’s body was found in a bedroom after it was out.
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