Colin Atagi

The (Palm Springs, Calif.) Desert Sun

Corrections and clarifications: An previous version of this story incorrectly described the relationship between Rebecca Friedli and Javier Garcia Jr.

INDIO, Calif. — A notorious Southern California murder mystery that finally saw progress after seven years as a cold case may have gone cold again.

Cristin Smith and Robert Pape, who were arrested in March in connection with a 2006 triple-homicide, were released from a Riverside County jail Friday after all charges were dropped. The two men had been accused of killing a family that was found in a burned house in Pinyon Pines, a small mountain community south of Palm Desert.

The Riverside District Attorney's Office made a motion to drop the charges during a court hearing Friday morning. Prosecutors distributed a news release that said murder charges would be re-filed in the "near future," but provided no specifics.

"Upon a closer review of the grand jury proceedings, the District Attorney's Office has determined that legal issues arose during the proceedings against defendant Pape that make it appropriate to dismiss the case at this time," the release said. "The District Attorney's Office has concluded that it would not be appropriate to continue the criminal proceedings solely against defendant Smith so the charges against both men have been dismissed."

Family members of the two suspects hugged and cried quietly as the case was dismissed. Smith's family declined to comment. An unidentified relative of Pape said his family was "very excited and love our attorneys."

Pape and Smith were accused of killing Jon Hayward, Vicki Friedli and Friedli's 18-year-old daughter, Rebecca Friedli, on Sept. 17, 2006. Officials found Vicki Friedli and Hayward shot inside their home, which had been set afire and burned to the ground. Rebecca Friedli's body was found in a wheelbarrow about 70 feet north of the home. Her body was so badly burned her cause of death is still unknown.

While investigating the fire, authorities discovered evidence of foul play. However, the case lingered without an arrest for years, becoming one of the most notorious mysteries in the recent history of California's Coachella Valley.

After years of silence, the case suddenly came back in March. A grand jury indicted Pape and Smith on three counts of murder with special circumstance allegations of committing multiple murders and two sentence-enhancing firearm-use allegations. Smith was removed from the indictment because he was only 17 years old when the murders occurred, but he was later ordered during a preliminary hearing to stand trial.

After the court case came to an abrupt end Friday, Robert Blumenfeld, Pape's attorney, said charges never should have been filed in the first place. Blumenfeld accused Riverside County District Attorney Paul Zellerbach of pushing charges with flimsy evidence so he could have leverage in his campaign for a second term in office.

"This was a politically motivated prosecution," Blumenfeld said. "What was done in this case was disgraceful."

Zellerbach has frequently denied that accusation, which have been made by several critics and opponents, including the Riverside Sheriff's Association. He ultimately lost his bid for re-election to Deputy District Attorney Mike Hestrin.

Blumenfeld said Friday it was too early to determine if his client would take legal action against the district attorney's office.

Over the past few months, prosecutors presented evidence that defense attorneys considered too ambiguous and faulty to prove a case against their clients. This included Pape and Smith's cellphone activity, the type of guns used in the killings and shoe prints and a business card found at the scene.

The shoe prints came from a pair of Vans shoes — a brand investigators found at one of the suspects' homes — and prosecutors argued the suspects had no phone activity because they were in a mountainous area. They added that Becky Friedli invited Pape and Smith to go hiking the day of the killings and they had reason to be in Pinyon Pines.

Prosecutors also said the suspects owned guns similar to the ones that could have been used in the killings and that the business card contained DNA that belonged to Smith.

Defense attorneys argued no one ever said the shoes were the exact same ones that left prints, the similarity in guns was a coincidence and that there was no proof the business card was left the night of the murders. Defense attorneys have often pointed fingers at Becky Friedli's boyfriend at the time, Jacob Santiago, and her best friend and Santiago's cousin, Javier Garcia Jr., as suspects who should be considered instead of their clients.

Garcia Jr. is the son of former assemblywoman and current state Senate candidate Bonnie Garcia, and his father, Javier Garcia Sr., is an investigator with the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.

Santiago and Garcia Jr. were ruled out as suspects. Pings from their cellphones showed them not in the area at the time the homicides happened, an FBI agent testified before the grand jury.