Gerald Guy Byrne, Most Wanted Murder Suspect and Ugly Police Mugshot Model

Gerald Guy Byrne

​Friday there was not time to shuffle in an ugly police mugshot of the week. If there had been, Gerald Guy Byrne would have taken it. He was arrested in Everett, Washington, for the 2009 murder of 69-year-old John Charles Samo.

I've received calls and emails from people asking if there was any movement in this case. There was a forceful shove when Byrne was arrested for an unrelated offense in Washington state. He reportedly gave police a false name, but his fingerprints linked him to the strangulation death of Samo.

As we reported at the time, a housekeeper found Samo's body in his condominium at 2522 W. MacArthur Blvd., Santa Ana, around 11:30 p.m. on July 21, 2009,

• Just Another Orange County Murder: John Charles Samo

Ugly.

​Samo, who'd retired from the Office of the State Fire Marshal, ran a business called Safety Consulting and Engineering from his condo.

Byrne, a drifter with a long criminal record, was later identified as a suspect in Samo's murder, even landing on the Santa Ana Police Department's 10 Most Wanted list.