August 31, 2010
Orange County District Attorney's Office
SANTA ANA - A husband has been charged with murdering his long-time wife by hitting her repeatedly over the head with a small statue after an argument in their Rancho Santa Margarita home. Richard Gustav Forsberg, 61, is charged with one felony count of special circumstances murder by lying in wait and faces a minimum sentence of life in state prison without the possibility of parole if convicted. Forsberg is being held without bail and is expected to be arraigned tomorrow, Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010, at 10:00 a.m. in Department CJ-1, Central Jail, Santa Ana.
On Feb. 9, 2010, the defendant is accused of getting into a verbal argument with his wife Marcia Ann Forsberg, whom he had been married to for 39 years. Forsberg is accused of surprising the victim by grabbing a small statue and hitting her multiple times in the head, murdering her. He is accused of keeping her body in their home over the next few days until he rented a recreational vehicle (RV). He is accused of using the RV to drive the victim's body to a campground, Lake Piru Recreation Area in Ventura County, where he disposed of the body.
When questioned by friends about the whereabouts of his wife, Forsberg is accused of claiming that they were having some marital problems and that she had left town to be on her own. On Aug. 24, 2010, concerned friends of the victim reported her missing. The Orange County Sheriff's Department began investigating the case.
Forsberg was arrested yesterday, Aug. 30, 2010, at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs. The defendant had been admitted to the hospital and a citizen contacted the police after recognizing him from media coverage requesting public assistance locating the defendant and his wife.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.
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