Father, son implicated in Tahoe girl’s murder

Brendan Riley

Tuesday, March 28, 2000 | 6:09 a.m.

STATELINE, Nev. - A twisted murder case got stranger Tuesday when authorities said the father of a man charged with the throat-slashing death of a 9-year-old Lake Tahoe girl is now a suspect.

Thomas Soria Sr., 39, whose son, Thomas Jr., 19, is in jail for the March 19 murder of Krystal Steadman, hasn't been charged in her death. But Douglas County Sheriff Ron Pierini said, "We are now considering him a suspect in that case."

"There are indications that he is involved and we can safely say that we are certainly pursuing that," the sheriff said.

Pierini also said Soria Sr. was booked Monday on a charge of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl last October, and officers "are investigating the possibility that other sexual assaults may have occurred."

Both men face Justice Court appearances Wednesday. The son, who had an aiding-and-abetting charge in the October sexual assault case added to his murder and kidnapping charges, is being held without bail. The father's bail was set at $500,000.

In the sexual assault case, Pierini alleged the son, a part-time youth club employee, brought the 15-year-old into the Sorias' apartment and with his father convinced her that Soria Sr. "would die if she refused to have sex with him."

An arrest report states the son introduced his father to the girl as his "uncle Tom," and told her the "uncle" had brain tumors that might explode if he got upset.

The report also says the girl had known the Sorias and Soria Sr.'s wife, Lupe, for several months and wanted to date Soria Jr., - but instead the son steered her to his father.

Tuesday's developments coincided with a memorial service for Krystal Steadman in nearby South Lake Tahoe, Calif.

Don Bloom, 80, a friend of the Steadman family who drove from Gustine, Calif., to attend the service, said he was shocked when he learned of the new charges.

"When I heard that, I wanted to vomit," Bloom said. "The abuse of children is just incomprehensible to me."

Also Tuesday, Pierini said Steadman's clothing had been found several miles from where her body was dumped. Pierini said pathology tests to determine whether the girl was sexually assaulted won't be completed until later this week. Additional charges are certain if the tests show Steadman was raped.

Soria Jr. was an immediate suspect because witnesses had seen Steadman on the running board of his vehicle, outside an apartment where her mother was visiting a friend.

Family members said the mother told the girl to stay out only a few more minutes. When her daughter didn't return, the mother looked for her - even going to Soria's apartment.

Soria Jr. was hired seven months ago to work at a satellite branch of the Lake Tahoe Boys and Girls Club. He passed a background check for the $6.50-an-hour job and had no previous criminal record other than a bad check charge.

Soria Sr., a computer technician who had sought jobs as an investigator and lottery security officer while living in the Sacramento area, had a prior arrest in June 1998 for making an obscene phone call.

The Sorias moved to Tahoe from North Highlands, a Sacramento, Calif., suburb, in January 1999.