Tri-Valley Herald reports new details in Alden Park shooting

Mike Martinez, Staff Writer for the Tri-Valley Herald, has posted the latest information in the investigation of the murder of San Leandro resident Steven Klent, found dead in Alden Park on September 9th. The 42-year-old, who attended high school in Fremont, was killed by a single gunshot wound to the back of his head, according to a report by the San Joaquin County Coroners Office.

The report said he was shot in the base of the skull and had an exit wound on the left side of his forehead. He was found lying on his back, in a pool of blood, with his hands in the front pockets of his jeans, according to the report. He was identified by police through his fingerprints.

Investigators don't know how long Klent had been dead before he was found around 10 o'clock that morning, but their report noted that a second pool of blood collected a few feet away from his body at the base of a water fountain. Residents of the Alden Park area are befuddled by this little fact, as there is no "water fountain" anywhere in the park.

The report also noted that potentially toxic levels of methamphetamines and amphetamines were detected in his system by a blood screen.

According to court records, there was an active warrant for Klent's arrest in Sonoma County after he violated the terms of his contract with Project Intercept, a drug and crime prevention program in the county. The Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported Klent was charged with one misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance in 1998, which lead to his enrollment in the program. The warrant for his arrest was issued in October the same year.

Document searches list Klent as a Sonoma County resident until November 2000. A spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriff's Department said Klent was in their custody in 2000 on theft and drug charges.

The Tri-Valley Herald article also noted that Steven Klent had two MySpace.com web pages and that he had written about creating the second one after someone "he trusted" had changed his password on the first.

"... of course, I can never trust this person again ... with anything. cant trust em with my stuff, in my house ... just plain cant trust em," he wrote. "... of course what I probably need to do is get these kinds of people out of my life. aint got room for anybody I cant trust."

Tracy investigators continue to try to find out why he was in the park and how long his body was there before being discovered. Several nearby residents reported hearing a single gunshot between 3 and 3:30 a.m. Tracy Police Detective Dean Hicks said investigators have been in the Bay Area working on the case since the beginning.

"It seems like every day we're there doing interviews and turning over every rock to see what we uncover," Hicks said. "We're still working on some leads that are taking us in a certain direction, but nothing we can talk about."

Within hours of the discovery of Mr. Klent's body, residents in the Alden Park community came together to form a neighborhood watch, which has been chronicled on this weblog.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Tracy Police Department at 209-831-6501. Mike Martinez can be reached at 209-832-3947 or at mmartinez@trivalleyherald.com.