Prosecutors allege Cedric Von Ferdinand poisoned Nadine Jett with fentanyl, buried her on her ranch and pursued her money and property.
SAN DIEGO, CA — A 34-year-old man has been charged with first-degree murder after prosecutors said he fatally poisoned his foster mother with fentanyl, buried her remains near her Valley Center home and then used her identity in an alleged scheme involving hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Cedric Von Ferdinand is accused of killing 65-year-old Nadine Jett, a retired attorney and foster mother who was battling pancreatic cancer when she disappeared in January 2024. San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan announced the murder charge Wednesday, saying toxicology findings and evidence gathered during an investigation led prosecutors to allege that Jett was killed for financial gain. Von Ferdinand also faces special-circumstance allegations of murder for financial gain and murder by poison. The charges are allegations, and he has not been convicted.
Jett was last seen alive Jan. 14, 2024, while receiving chemotherapy, according to Stephan. The criminal complaint alleges she was killed sometime between Jan. 14 and Jan. 17. Prosecutors said investigators learned that Von Ferdinand contacted someone on Jan. 16 to dig a hole measuring about 6 feet by 6 feet on Jett’s 20-acre property on Oak Creek Road. When investigators later found Jett’s remains, they were buried in a similarly sized hole about 30 yards from her home.
Jett’s cause of death was not immediately clear when her remains were recovered in July 2025. Stephan said toxicology testing later found a large amount of acetylfentanyl in Jett’s system. Prosecutors said the substance is associated with illicitly manufactured fentanyl rather than pharmaceutical-grade fentanyl. The medical examiner determined that Jett died from acute fentanyl toxicity and classified the manner of death as homicide. Stephan said those findings became a key part of the decision to file the murder charge.
Von Ferdinand had been caring for Jett around the time she disappeared, according to prosecutors. Her foster daughters later told investigators they had difficulty seeing Jett before she vanished. Prosecutors said Von Ferdinand subsequently told relatives and others that Jett had died from cancer and had been cremated, including claims that she had died in Mexico. Investigators testified during an earlier court hearing that they were unable to locate a death certificate in either Mexico or the United States that supported those accounts.
Jett’s foster daughters reported her missing in June 2024 after becoming suspicious about the explanations they had received. The investigation eventually led authorities to search the Valley Center property. Bianca Lucci, one of four sisters Jett had taken in as foster children, described Jett as the mother the sisters needed after years of moving through foster homes. The family said Wednesday that they welcomed the new murder charge while continuing to mourn Jett’s death.
The homicide case follows an earlier financial prosecution against Von Ferdinand. A judge ordered him in September 2025 to stand trial on nearly three dozen felony counts that include allegations of forgery, identity theft and grand theft. Prosecutors have accused him of taking money from Jett’s accounts, obtaining power of attorney through documents bearing her apparent signature and transferring real estate she owned into his control. The District Attorney’s Office has said the alleged losses exceed $500,000.
Prosecutors allege Jett’s Valley Center ranch and two properties she owned in Los Angeles County were transferred to Von Ferdinand. They also contend money from Jett’s bank account was used to purchase another Los Angeles County residence and that additional withdrawals continued into 2024. Defense attorneys disputed the prosecution’s account during the earlier preliminary hearing, arguing that Jett had willingly transferred money and property to Von Ferdinand. A legal assistant called by the defense testified that she communicated with Jett during video calls related to property transfers and believed Jett understood what she was doing.
The investigation also produced charges against two other people. Prosecutors said Kimberley Pifer allegedly impersonated Jett and was involved in a marriage document identifying Jett as marrying Von Ferdinand after prosecutors believe Jett was already dead. Pifer faces forgery and identity theft charges. Escondido notary Raymond Joseph Alto also faces charges connected to documents prosecutors contend contained forged signatures. Preliminary-hearing testimony indicated that a thumbprint placed beside Jett’s purported signature in a notary journal was later identified as Von Ferdinand’s. The defendants have not been convicted of those allegations.
Von Ferdinand was arrested in Los Angeles County after the murder charge was filed. As of the latest reports Thursday, he was scheduled to be arraigned at the Vista courthouse on the new murder count and the two special-circumstance allegations. If convicted of special-circumstance murder, he could face life in prison without the possibility of parole or potentially the death penalty if prosecutors decide to seek it. The District Attorney’s Office had not publicly announced such a decision in the reports reviewed.
Author note: Last updated October 22, 2026.