Reward posted in murder of Oceanside retiree

OCEANSIDE - Authorities announced a $6,000 reward today for information leading to an arrest in connection with the slaying last month of a retiree during a burglary in his coastal northern San Diego County home.

The bloodied body of John Roth, 77, was discovered by his wife at their house in the 500 block of North Tremont Street in Oceanside when she returned from a double shift at her job at a nursing home shortly before 7 a.m. Aug. 14, according to police.

Zui Pang, 41, had last seen her husband alive about 16 hours earlier, Detective Erik Ellgard said.

There were no signs of forced entry or a struggle at the couple's home, and a back door was found open, the detective said. Roth had suffered severe trauma to his upper body, according to police, who have withheld the nature of the fatal wounds.

Missing from the victim's home were some of the couple's possessions, including costume jewelry, a wooden jewelry box, an Asus laptop computer, an LG cellphone, and Pang's wedding ring.

Four days later, an acquaintance of the victim's found Pang's stolen purse, photos of the couple and other personal effects of theirs dumped in an alley off North Ditmar Street, a few blocks from their home.

Roth had mild dementia but no known enemies or ongoing disputes, according to police. Investigators have developed no suspect description, though they have questioned several "persons of interest'' in the case, Ellgard said.

Pang is putting up $5,000 of the reward fund, with the remainder supplied by San Diego County Crime Stoppers.

Anyone with information about the homicide is asked to call the nonprofit regional agency at (888) 580-8477 or online at sdcrimestoppers.org. Tipsters may remain anonymous.