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Killing of Pregnant Ben Lomond Woman Shocks Community
Authorities Believe Murder Happened Elsewhere and Body was Moved to Forest
Joanna "Asha" Veil
By Mary Bryant and Michael Thomas
On Thursday, Sept. 14, a resident of the Love Creek Road area was hiking with a dog and discovered the dead body of a pregnant woman in a wooded area. The discovery brought the search for 26-year old Joanna "Asha" Veil to a sad end.
Veil had last been seen on the previous Saturday when she left the Ben Lomond Market where she worked. Co-workers reported her disappearance to authorities on Sept. 12.
"We began a standard missing person's investigation," Sheriff's Lt. Phil Wowak
said. Co-workers convinced deputies that Veil was very reliable. This caused the Sheriff's Office to move even more quickly. "We became suspicious."
On the evening of Sept. 12, deputies located Veil's vehicle on Brookside, about a ¼ mile from the store and several hundred feet south of Love Creek. Still, deputies continue questioning Veil's friends and family.
Veil was six and a half months pregnant, about 10 weeks from giving birth. Anonymous tips led detectives to important witnesses, one a former employee of the Ben Lomond Market who told investigators that while working at the Ben Lomond Market her supervisor sexually assaulted her. She didn't report the crime because she feared for her life.
McClish Arrested after Body Found
Ben Lomond resident and Ben Lomond Market supervisor Michael McClish, 37, was arrested for that crime the day after Veil's body was discovered. McClish is presently being held on $1 million bail. He is charged with raping and sodomizing an employee at the Market in 2005. On Friday, Sept. 22, his attorney tried unsuccessfully to have his bail reduced.
During the commission of the assault, he allegedly brandished a hatchet and threatened to kill his victim. In an initial court appearance, McClish pleaded innocent to the charges of forcible sex acts, assault with a deadly weapon, making death threats and inflicting great bodily harm during the commission of a sexual assault. Reportedly, McClish had been involved with the employee during an 18-month affair before the assault. Detectives believe he may have also victimized other women in the past.
However, if Sheriff's investigators are building a case against McClish, they are not saying.
"I can't release all the information in regard to the investigation of McClish," Wowak said.
Lt. Wowak added that investigators were also being careful not to release too many details about the crime for fear of jeopardizing a conviction in the future. What they won't say is how Veil died or much about the location where her body was found.
Do they believe that Veil drove her car to the spot where it was found?
"It hasn't been determined that she was the last person to drive her car," Wowak said.
Was she murdered in the forest where she was found?
"I believe she was killed in a place other than where she was found," Wowak answered, suggesting that the killer's decision to drag Veil's body into the woods was made to try and hide his two victims.
Veil was estranged from her husband, Richard Veil of Scotts Valley. Is Richard a suspect?
"He was contacted immediately and he has cooperated in the investigation," Wowak answered.
"We have not ruled anyone out as a suspect."
According to Wowak, Veil voluntarily provided a DNA sample to test the paternity of his wife's unborn child. Additionally, deputies served search warrants and seized property from at least one other suspect, including evidence for DNA testing. He wouldn't name the suspect.
"We have seized a significant amount of evidence," Wowak said.
Did Joanna know the other employee who had been involved with and was allegedly assaulted by McClish?
"I can't comment on the victim's [relationship with McClish]," Wowak responded. However, he did acknowledge that learning about the allegations against McClish caused investigators to consider connections.
"It definitely piqued our interest and brought to light a number of leads we are still working on."
Does Wowak believe that knowing the paternity of the child will help in the investigation?
"I am trying to determine who the father is," he said without further comment.
Does the public need to worry that Veil's killer could still be a threat?
"I believe Asha's murder was an isolated event by someone who she was familiar with," Lt. Wowak said.
Friends Describe a Gentle, Loving Expectant Mother
Veil, known to her friends as Asha, was a Polish immigrant who moved to Santa Cruz County in 2004 from New York City. In New York she had met Richard, who encouraged her to move here. Months after arriving, they were married. According to Joanna Veil's friends, the two had separated in the past year but remained close.
Richard has told the Santa Cruz Sentinel that shortly after revealing that she was pregnant, Asha admitted a brief relationship with another man. According to Veil, she said the relationship was over.
Joanna had been renting a room at a cozy home on a side street near Highway 9. She was reliable at work and even showed up for shifts when the early stages of pregnancy made her sick, according to coworkers.
"The last time we talked … I was going to help her with the delivery," said Tracy Frankel, a friend who worked with her at the Market. "She was very excited. She was talking about how its arms and legs were moving."
Veil was taking prenatal yoga classes. She had even chosen a name for the child: Iana, which means "perpetually blooming flower."
"We spend all this time thinking about Asha and no time thinking about her baby," said April Jackson, an office employee at the Market. "Everything she said to you, every way that she treated you was very honest and caring."
Frankel said it was unusual when Veil failed to show up for work. On the Monday after her disappearance, she also missed appointments. She was scheduled to interview for low-income housing and had plans to move to Capitola. The same day, she had a prenatal care visit appointment. By Tuesday, it was clear that something was wrong.
When her car was found it was unlocked. Neighbors told deputies that they knew when she was coming and going because her car was noisy from an exhaust problem.
The discovery of her body brought shock. At the memorial arrangement of flowers, stuffed animals and photographs materialized in a plant alcove outside. Customers paused there and talked about remembering her as a sweet and "wonderful" person.
Sheriff's investigators also responded to the gruesome murder, with 15 detectives working around the clock through the first weekend after the body was found.
"I am very proud of the work that all the investigators have done. It speaks to the dedication to their job and their community and how personally they take these crimes," he added.
"When the going got tough … she never said anything bad about anybody," Frankel said. "She only said loving things about her husband. It seemed like a loving relationship, but it just wasn't healthy."
Frankel believes Veil wasn't certain about who the father was.
"She said she really wanted the baby to be her husband's," Frankel added.
After having the baby, Veil planned to visit family in Poland for three or four months.
Richard Veil is the only known family Veil had in the United States. Her family in Poland is not wealthy and friends are hoping plane fare can be arranged for them to attend her funeral.
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