Circumstances support 180 degree opposite interpretations of the prospect that prosecutors will be able to get the murder charge lodged against 53-yer-old Jeff Anthony Maiorca to stick.
The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office is proceeding with the theory advanced that Maiorca, then 33 years old, murdered his ex-wife, 29-year-old Jill Maiorca, in November 2006, more than two years after he had initiated divorce proceedings against her.
The case involves more than one anomaly.
Jill Maiorca was not reported as missing until 2007. Based upon evidence developed by homicide detectives with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, she died as the result of foul play months prior to that. Ultimately, investigators say, her body was disposed of beneath the wooden floor joists of a home in a residential area of Big Bear, in the community where the couple lived prior to their divorce, and where Jeff Maiorca was yet residing as of earlier this month.
The investigation relating to Jill Maiorca, which was classified as a missing person’s case, had lain dormant for more than 13 years. According to the sheriff’s department, “On Wednesday, October 28, 2020, at approximately 11:12 a.m., deputies from the Big Bear Sheriff’s Station responded to a call for service in the 39000 block of Forest Road, in Big Bear Lake. The reporting party requested law enforcement assistance after making a suspicious discovery in the crawlspace under the residence. Big Bear Station deputies and personnel from the Big Bear Fire Department responded to the location and discovered unidentified human remains in the crawlspace beneath the residence.
Detectives from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department specialized investigations division, homicide detail, responded and assumed the investigation. An autopsy was conducted on the remains, and the manner of death was determined to be homicide. Despite DNA testing and continued investigative efforts, the identity of the deceased remained unknown, and the investigation remained unsolved.
“In 2023, the sheriff’s cold case homicide team assumed the investigation and submitted the remains for additional investigative DNA analysis,” the sheriff’s department statement continues. “The remains were ultimately identified as those of Jill Maiorca. Detectives learned Jill had been reported missing from Big Bear Lake in 2007. Through continued investigation, detectives identified Jill’s former husband, Jeff Maiorca, as a suspect in her murder. Evidence developed during the investigation indicates Jill was murdered in November 2006. Her remains were concealed beneath the Forest Road residence without the homeowner’s knowledge.”
Nearly two decades had elapsed since the time investigators say Jill Maiorca died, almost six years since her body was found and a substantial amount of time since her remains were identified and Jeff Maiorca was identified as the suspect in her murder. Jeff Maiorca was arrested on September 21, 2026 at the temporary headquarters for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department in Big Bear Lake located on the west side of the Big Bear Library at 41930 Garstin Drive. The sheriff’s department serves as the contract law enforcement agency for the City of Big Bear Lake, i.e., the Big Bear Police Department. The sheriff’s department is operating out of the library while its headquarters is undergoing renovation. It appears, but has not been officially stated, that Jeff Maiorca had voluntarily appeared at the temporary Big Bear Sheriff’s Department headquarters for an interview-turned-interrogation on September 21. He was arrested at ten minutes after noon.
Maiorca was booked into the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department High Desert Jail in Adelanto on a PC187(A) murder charge. He was deemed ineligible for bail.
In addition to charging Maiorca with Penal Code Section 187, the district attorney’s office is alleging the special circumstance of his having used a deadly weapon in the commission of the murder. That allegation did not specify what form of deadly weapon was used.
There has not been any release of information to support the assertion of the use of a weapon, which nonetheless is widely taken to have been a firearm, which lends itself to the interpretation, which is again highly speculative, that sheriff’s department investigators recovered such in Maiorca’s possession. Such tangible evidence would explicate the charge filed against him, but would also imply that he would have retained rather than destroyed evidence that would have tied him to the murder.
Jeff Maiorca is the owner of JM Mechanical, which is based in Big Bear City, the unincorporated county area outside of Big Bear Lake. JM Mechanical specializes in heating, ventilation and air conditioning servicing and repair, as well as plumbing. Jeff Maiorca holds a license for performing work relating to warm air heating, ventilating, air condition, plumbing, fire detection and protection systems and general engineering.
The Sentinel was unable to locate any records indicating whether JM Mechanical had engaged in construction, repair or service work on properties/addresses with the 39000 block of Forest Road.