For many years, Jane Doe lived an accomplished yet solitary life. A brilliant research scientist, she received a medal in 1969 for helping put a man on the moon and in 1974 moved to Santa Barbara to pursue a career in defense technology. She held senior positions that required high-level government clearances, most recently at Applied Research Associates in Goleta, and worked long hours, even into her eighties. “We never knew exactly what she did, but we knew she was a workaholic,” said Doe’s sister, Gayle Aruta.
The other focus of Doe’s life was serving on the board of the homeowner association that manages her condominium complex off Modoc Road. She was an active member for two decades and took pride in making the small community a pleasant place to live. So, when Doe suffered a perforated bowel in 2022 that required a long stay in Cottage Hospital’s ICU, a fellow boardmember ― 61-year-old Russian national Inna Vladimirovna Cook, who also shared Doe’s love of cats and houseplants ― offered to help her get back on her feet.
Eighteen months later, on February 5, 2024, Santa Barbara authorities raided the home that Doe and Cook shared and discovered Doe, hungry and thirsty, lying under a deflated air mattress. “They found her alone essentially starving, eating only oranges and tomatoes, which are both high in potassium, which damaged her kidneys,” court documents state. Officials soon discovered Doe had recently signed possession of her condo, cars, cash, and investments ― assets worth more than $3 million ― over to Cook…