HANFORD, CA (RNN) - A woman allegedly struck up a friendship with a retired Vietnam veteran, but police said her intentions were less than friendly.
Stacie Mendoza and her husband, Jose Mendoza, confessed to killing 68-year-old Kenneth Coyle, KFSN reported. Police said the couple burned the man's body while their three children watched.
Authorities believe Stacie Mendoza, a waitress, used her friendship with Coyle to get access to his financial information, SFGATE said.
"As this relationship grew, we know that Ms. Mendoza started getting access to his bank account information and started getting money from him," Capt. Karl Anderson said in a Monday press conference.
Stacie and Jose Mendoza went to Coyle's house on April 5 to get more access to funds, authorities claimed.
Coyle died after being restrained on a bed and beaten "to get access to his bank account information, passwords and other account information," Anderson said in a Monday press conference.
The couple took their children and Coyle's body to a rural area in a nearby county.
"We know the children were taken to where the body was burned and watched the body burn," Anderson said.
Police said they apprehended the couple after the property management company where Coyle lived became suspicious of the couple. They had returned to Coyle's home to apparently take more of his belongings.
Police were able to track Coyle's cell phone to the Mendozas home in Fresno, and took the couple into custody at a Denny's near Los Angeles International Airport, SFGATE reported.
Jose Mendoza had Coyle's credit card in his possession and a ticket to his native El Salvador.
The couple are being held without bail, and their children are in the custody of Child Protective Services.
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