Overview
- Duran, 44, was arrested in Nashville, waived extradition to California, and was booked into a San Bernardino County jail before entering a not guilty plea.
- He is charged with murder and conspiracy in the disappearance and apparent killing of 40-year-old Emilio Ghanem and is being held on $1 million bail.
- Ghanem was last seen at a Starbucks in Redlands in May 2023, and his rental truck was later found burned in the Mojave Desert, according to police.
- Earlier charges in December named group leader Shelley Bailey “Kat” Martin and congregant Rudy Franco Moreno in Ghanem’s case, while separate counts accuse Martin, her husband Darryl Muzic Martin, and Andre Thomas in a 2010 child death.
- Authorities say Ghanem left His Way Spirit Led Assemblies, started a competing pest-control business, and had received a cease-and-desist letter over alleged customer theft.