Man Indicted in Slaying of His Wife : Courts: Body of the beaten and strangled Moorpark woman was found off a rural road. Her husband has pleaded not guilty.

A Ventura County grand jury indicted a 38-year-old Moorpark man on charges of murdering his wife and dumping her body in the mud along a rural road, prosecutors announced Thursday.

James Michael Linkenauger beat and strangled his wife, JoAnn, in a drunken rage last month when she returned home from a weekend in Las Vegas with some friends, investigators said in court documents.

Court records also say JoAnn Linkenauger, 39, was listed as the victim in four domestic violence incidents since 1990 and sought a restraining order against her husband, which she later dropped.

Linkenauger, who is on probation for a drunk-driving conviction, is in Ventura County Jail with bail set at $250,000. Linkenauger, whose preliminary hearing is scheduled next week, has pleaded not guilty.

“The evidence speaks for itself,” Ventura County Sheriff’s Sgt. Kelly Fadler said. “I don’t think you even need anyone to testify. All you have to do is put a big table out with all the evidence.”

According to a search warrant affidavit filed by Ventura County sheriff’s investigators, bloodstains were found in the home on a throw rug, on shelves in the living room, on the walls and on the carpet. Linkenauger tried to bleach the carpet and wash the clothes, the affidavit says.

The document also reports that neighbors told authorities that they heard fighting and screams from the house on Flory Avenue the night of the homicide. One woman said she recognized JoAnn Linkenauger’s voice screaming for help and then saw Linkenauger’s husband drag her down the street by her shoulder-length hair, the document says.

Court papers say investigators believe that the unemployed mechanic beat his wife with his fists and knocked her on top of a glass table before strangling her. Later, he wrapped her body in a yellow bedspread and stuffed her into the trunk of her car, the document says.

Linkenauger drove the car to a barranca just off California 118 and Somis Road, where he dumped his wife’s body and abandoned the car, court records said. A watch that investigators believe belonged to Linkenauger was found on the front passenger floorboard of the car. The car and body were found by sheriff’s deputies the next day.

According to the affidavit, JoAnn Linkenauger told her friends during the Las Vegas weekend trip that she was afraid to return home to her husband.

The court papers also outline the detectives’ interview with James Linkenauger, who said he last saw his wife before she left on her trip. He told detectives that he was drinking heavily at the time and could not explain how his wife was beaten to death in his living room while he slept.

“I don’t care how much Jack Daniels you have,” said Fadler, who conducted the interview. “I don’t think you could sleep through all that.”

JoAnn Linkenauger was manager of the commissary at Culver Studios for the last three years.

She had two daughters, according to court records, identified as Erica and Stephanie Javins.

The couple were married in April, 1990, according to JoAnn Linkenauger’s sworn statement in her request for a restraining order. The beatings began less than a month later, she said.

She withdrew her request three days later. Linkenauger never formally responded to his wife’s charges, and apparently the couple continued living together.