Mark Arthur Morton Simi Valley police officers arrested a Santa Maria man July 31 on the outskirts of Simi in connection with the killing of another Santa Maria resident in July.

Mark Arthur Morton, a 48year-old transient, is charged with the slaying of Steven Tannenbaum, 55, who was found dead inside his Santa Maria home July 13, though investigators believe he was actually killed two days earlier.

Santa Maria is a city of close to 80,000 people an hour north of Santa Barbara.

According to the Santa Maria Police Department, the victim had a video system running inside his home that recorded the slaying.

Police said Morton is visible inside the residence stealing items belonging to the victim, including his wallet and credit cards.

When Tannenbaum came home, he was allegedly attacked by Morton with a clublike object and struck repeatedly in the head and body, causing his death.

On July 31, detectives received information that Morton was possibly hiding out in a homeless camp in Simi.

That led authorities to contact an officer in the Simi Police Department’s special operations unit who knew of Morton. Morton is a known drug user with a criminal history of narcotics-related violations, Santa Maria police said.

Simi police went to the homeless camp, which is near the Arroyo Simi on the west end of town in the 400 block of W. Los Angeles Avenue.

Though he gave officers a false name, Morton was arrested on a murder warrant as well as other warrants, including a no-bail warrant for a probation violation.

Santa Maria Police detectives later took custody of Morton and brought him back to Santa Maria, where he was booked and is being held without bail.