True Crime
Riverside County booked Joshua Jordan Kohain-King for murder after Carl Harry Smith was found dead
The Riverside County Sheriff's Office says deputies found Carl Harry Smith, 76, with stab wounds on Oct. 1 in Rancho Mirage and that he died at the scene. His stepson, Joshua Jordan Kohain-King, 36, of Joshua Tree, was booked into the John Benoit Detention Center for murder.
By Crime Talk Network Staff Writer ·
A murder booking after deputies name a stepson as the suspect is the sheriff's accusation. The office has not given a motive. Custody without incident is how deputies say the arrest was made. It is not an admission, and it is not a conviction.
The Riverside County Sheriff's Office said deputies from the Palm Desert station were sent at 8:33 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, to the 36000 block of Palm View Road in Rancho Mirage on a report of an assault with a deadly weapon. They found Carl Harry Smith, 76, of Rancho Mirage, with injuries consistent with stab wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The Central Homicide Unit took the investigation. KTLA also reported the death and the arrest.
Investigators identified Smith's stepson, Joshua Jordan Kohain-King, 36, of Joshua Tree, as the suspect, the sheriff's office said. He was taken into custody without incident and booked into the John Benoit Detention Center for murder. The office said the investigation is active and that it would not release more information. It has not publicly stated a motive.
Naming a relative as the suspect and booking him for murder starts the case. It does not prove who inflicted the wounds or why. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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