Man Denies Murdering Murrieta Woman Found Dead In Temecula

TEMECULA, CA — A man accused of killing a 30-year-old woman found in an abandoned vehicle in Temecula pleaded not guilty Monday to a murder charge.

Edwin Omar Cordova, 28, of Wildomar is charged in the death of Cynthia Denise Ibarra Cabrera of Murrieta, who was found dead on March 18.

He was arraigned on the murder count, with a sentence-enhancing allegation of using a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony, before Superior Court Judge Judith Clark, who kept the defendant's bail at $1 million.

The judge scheduled a May 13 felony settlement conference at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta for Cordova, who is being held at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.

According to sheriff's Sgt. Rick Espinoza, patrol deputies were called to the area of Camino Estribo and Pujol Street, just west of Interstate 15, the night of March 18 to investigate reports of a vehicle crash on a steep embankment.

When deputies searched the sedan at the bottom of the precipice, they discovered Cabrera dead from unspecified blunt force injuries, Espinoza said.

The case was immediately turned over to the Central Homicide Unit, and detectives focused their attention on individuals known to the victim, he said. Within two days, investigators developed leads pointing to Cordova, at which point he was questioned and ultimately taken into custody, but no other details were provided, including a possible motive.

The defendant has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.