Police make third arrest for murder of Tennessee man connected to Inland Empire religious group

Police have arrested a third person in connection with the murder of a Tennessee man who was affiliated with the Inland Empire religious group "His Way Spirit Led Assemblies."

Ramon Ruiz Duran Jr., 44, was arrested in Nashville on Monday, Jan. 12, when detectives traveled to Tennessee, according to a statement from the Redlands Police Department. He was taken into custody at his place of work with help from the Metro Nashville Police Department, the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Duran was transported back to San Bernardino County and booked at the West Valley Detention Center for murder and conspiracy to commit murder. He remains behind bars in lieu of $1 million bail. 

CBS LA spoke with Duran's nephew, a former member of the religious group, who provided an in-depth look at the group's inner workings in December after their leaders were charged in two separate murder investigations. He said that he wasn't surprised by his uncle's involvement in the incident. 

Police have been investigating the disappearance of 40-year-old Emilio Salem Ghanem for years, after he was last seen at a Starbucks on May 25, 2023. 

He was reported missing by family members shortly after he left the religious group. Investigators say that he returned to Southern California to garner business for his pest control business. He had previously worked for a similar company named Fullshield, Inc., now known as Maxguard, which is owned by the group's leaders.

In the time since he was reported missing, Redlands detectives have located the truck Ghanem was renting, burned in the Mojave Desert, with "additional evidence," leading to their classification of the case as a murder. 

In early August 2025, several leaders of the religious organization were arrested as the investigation into Ghanem's disappearance continued. A week after those first search warrants were served, detectives then served separate warrants in Laguna Hills, which led to the arrest of group leaders Darryl Muzic Martin, 57, and Shelly Bailey "Kat" Martin, also known to members as "The Prophetess," 62. 

Months later, police arrested Shelley Bailey "Kat" Martin and Rudy Moreno for Ghanem's murder. Charges were filed against the three on Dec. 16, 2025. Duran is now the third person arrested in connection with his death, but he has not yet been charged. Police said the case will be presented for filing in the coming days.

At the time that murder charges were filed for Ghanem's murder, the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office also filed charges against Darryl Muzic Martin, "Kat" Martin and Andre Thomas for the murder of 4-year-old Timothy Thomas, who died in January 2010 after he was placed in the temporary custody of the Martins. At that time, investigators determined that he died due to child neglect, but no one was ever charged, and his death was eventually ruled a natural cause from a ruptured appendix. 

Thomas' case was reopened in 2025 after detectives discovered new leads and evidence, police said. The new information included Ghanem's disappearance and his connection to His Way Spirit Led Assemblies.

The religious group has also been connected to the disappearance of 41-year-old Ruben Moreno, who was reported missing in 2019 but has not been seen since 2017. His brother, Rudy Moreno, was charged with Ghanem's murder. Claremont police have been investigating his disappearance and say they're working in correspondence with other local agencies investigating Ghanem's murder.