By Brittany Hanson

Garden Grove Journal

For eight months, authorities say,  Hilbert Pinnel Thomas drove a white Lexus GS 300. The car sat parked in a spot around the back of the El Dorado Inn apartment complex until last Wednesday.

That night investigators from the Orange County Sherriff’s Department arrested Thomas as a suspect in the murder of Elizabeth Palmer, 49, of Fountain Valley and Matthew Scott, 42, of Costa Mesa.

Four miles away, the Golden Sun Mobile Homes sales lot was a crime scene last Feb. 2, when Don Scott, Matthew’s father came in to work that morning and found his son, Matthew and long time secretary, Palmer, shot execution style in the front office.

Palmer’s white Lexus GS 300 was reported missing from the parking lot and authorities have been searching for it since.

“It was somewhat of a mystery as to why it hadn’t been found yet,” said Jim Amormino, OCSD’s public information officer.

Since February, alerts have been put out on a regular basis detailing the car and telling authorities to keep a look out for a matching description.

A deputy on patrol in Anaheim spotted the vehicle while on a routine drive last week and investigators staked out the apartment complex.

  “We called the stake out off Wednesday,” said Amormino.

Upon arrest and further search, investigators found in Thomas’s possession a gun believed at this time to be the murder weapon.

Currently there is no statement from Thomas (pictured at left) in relation to the case. He is set to be arraigned in 30 days.

Amormino said that right now ascertaining a motive is very hard. He said that the investigators are sporting a few different ideas for a possible motive.

The two most prominent ideas are that it was either a car jacking gone wrong or that they were specifically targeted.

“It’s unusual to steal a vehicle and then drive it around for eight months,” said Amormino.

“We believe, though that we have the right man. We have oth,er evidence linking him to the crime . . . the people of Stanton, Garden Grove and Anaheim can rest a little easier now.”