San Diego

Herman (Rock) Kreutzer, his wife and two sons pleaded innocent Thursday to charges that they murdered Kreutzer’s son-in-law. James Ray Spencer’s body was found April 11 on the Big Oak Ranch, an East County ranch operated by Kreutzer as a Western theme park. Kreutzer, 47, and his son Jerome, 26, face murder charges and will be tried on April 2. Kreutzer’s wife, Lynn, 33, and son Kurt, 19, are charged as accessories to the slaying and will be tried separately; no trial date for them was set. The Kreutzers are free on bonds ranging from $5,000 to $50,000. They were charged in October after a six-month investigation.