LAKEPORT, Calif. – A woman who is a person of interest in the city of Lakeport’s only unsolved homicide has been arrested along with her daughter for financial crimes against her former boyfriend.

Linda Ann Mafrice, 63, of Clearlake was taken into custody on Thursday, according to District Attorney Don Anderson.

Mafrice, whose occupation is listed as massage therapist, was arrested by a District Attorney’s Office investigator on Thursday morning and booked into the Lake County Jail early Friday morning, with bail set at $500,000 on a felony arrest warrant, according to jail records.

Anderson said Mafrice’s daughter, 29-year-old Meghan Mariana DeMarco of Kelseyville, also was arrested in the case on a $500,000 arrest warrant.

He said they are charged with financial elder abuse, grand theft, conspiracy, forgery and altering medical records. Additional charges are expected to be filed in the near future.

Both Mafrice and DeMarco have been placed on PC 1275 holds placed on them in order that they prove that any bail money didn’t come from the proceeds of the alleged crime.

On Friday afternoon, both remained in custody, according to jail records.

Anderson said he expects both women will appear in Lake County Superior Court for arraignment on Tuesday afternoon.

Mafrice has long been a person of interest in the murder of Barbara LaForge in her downtown frame shop on Oct. 8, 2002.

That morning LaForge was opening up her Wildwood Frame Shop, located along with Inspirations Gallery at 165 N. Main St., when she was shot four times at close range with a .22-caliber firearm.

At the time of the murder, Barbara LaForge was married to Dan Hamblin, who was also romantically involved with Mafrice. Shortly after the murder Mafrice moved in with Hamblin. Anderson said Mafrice, in addition to being Hamblin’s girlfriend, was his health care provider.

Anderson said Hamblin is the victim in this financial elder abuse case.

Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen confirmed to Lake County News that both Mafrice and Hamblin remain persons of interest in LaForge’s murder.

“Nothing’s changed,” he said Friday, adding that his agency is continuing to work to resolve the homicide case.

“We haven’t given up on it and don’t plan to,” Rasmussen said.

Women alleged to have tricked victim into signing over property

Anderson said that on Thursday his investigators served search warrants at Mafrice’s residence at 10970 Mistletoe Lane in Clearlake and DeMarco’s residence at 6170 Gold Dust Drive in Kelseyville as part of an ongoing investigation of financial elder abuse.

He said a total of 11 search warrants were served on various banks and businesses to secure the documents necessary to prove the crimes.

On Friday, Anderson said search warrants were continuing to be served for safety deposit boxes and other items.

Because the investigation is continuing, Anderson said he can’t comment specifically on the evidence.

The District Attorney’s Office alleges that Mafrice and DeMarco coerced and tricked Hamblin into signing a deed to his residence at 10615 Fairway Drive in Kelseyville at a time when he did not have the mental capacity to consent to the transfer of his property. Additionally, they submitted forged medical records and other documents to ensure the transfer went through.

After having Hamblin sign over the deed, Anderson said Mafrice dropped Hamblin off at his brother’s residence in Sonoma County for the holidays. She then ended their relationship and did not allow Hamblin to return to his home.

Mafrice and DeMarco then sold the residence, keeping all of the profits, Anderson said.

An online sale history shows the home was sold in June for $175,000 and was relisted at the end of August for $259,000. Anderson confirmed that $175,000 was the sales price in this case.

Mafrice has a history of financial crimes for which she has served prison time, as Lake County News has reported.

In August 2002, the District Attorney's Office charged her with theft from an elder, theft by a forged or invalid access card and forgery.

That was followed up on Oct. 9, 2002 – the day after the LaForge murder – by the District Attorney’s Office filing a case against Mafrice involving 90 counts including forgery and grand theft for stealing funds from the Royale Shores Homeowners Association between February 2000 and August 2002.

Most of the charges in the Royale Shores case would be dismissed via a Harvey waiver – meaning they could be considered in sentencing but would not be prosecuted – and in July 2004 Mafrice was convicted in the case. She was sentenced to five years probation and 300 days in jail, and 200 hours of community service.

In the lead up to the sentencing in that case, Mafrice had claimed mental and physical health issues, and brought a forged doctor's note to court asking for her probation to be modified, as Lake County News has reported. She would later admit in court to the forgery.

Mafrice’s probation terms required her to repay $113,116.07 to Royale Shores, with credit for $65,000 that she had already paid back.

However, weeks before her probation was set to end in 2009, a bench warrant was issued for Mafrice’s arrest because she had failed to repay the money.

In an August 2010 court hearing, she admitted to violating her probation and not repaying the money, and was warned at that time by Judge Andrew Blum that she could face a maximum prison time of more than five years if she failed to make the restitution by Dec. 3 of that year.

When she reappeared in court in December 2010 and still hadn’t paid the restitution, Judge Blum permanently revoked Mafrice’s probation and sentenced her to four years, eight months in prison. Due to credits, she served about two years.

Murder case investigation continuing

Anderson said an investigation into the LaForge murder involving both the District Attorney’s Office and the Lakeport Police Department is ongoing.

He said that earlier this year he hired an experienced homicide investigator, Hank McKenzie, from the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office to specifically re-investigate the LaForge murder.

The entire case has been re-evaluated, new technology in DNA analysis has been tested and used, as well as several people have been re-interviewed, including some in prison, Anderson said.

He said many new leads have been developed which were continuing to be investigated.

“Some of the results have been very promising,” Anderson said. “Hank is doing an extremely great job gathering the facts.”

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.