Two Sacramento Fire Department employees leveraged their positions to buy the home of an emotionally and mentally vulnerable elderly woman, repeatedly worked on the property while on duty and profited from its resale, according to a previously undisclosed investigation.

The yearlong investigation, commissioned by the city and conducted by a third-party investigation firm, concluded that Douglas Muraki, then a fire captain, and Fire Captain Michael Mora misused their access and positions for months, including meeting the woman during a 911 medical call and using city time and equipment to renovate the home. They also violated city policy by failing to disclose the outside employment and did not obtain required permits for eight separate renovations on the home.

Despite these findings, which met the definition of fraud and abuse for the city, both Muraki and Mora remain employed by the department.

The investigation, obtained The Sacramento Bee through a public records act request, details that Muraki first connected with the then-69-year-old Christie Evangelista in April 2024 after a 911 call for medical response at her North Sacramento home. Evangelista, who had undergone years of cancer treatment, had mobility issues and struggled with her mental health in the years following her husband’s death.

Muraki, Mora and real estate agent Kristen Snedeker — the wife of then-Battalion Chief Darin Snedeker — purchased the home for $200,000 within weeks of the first interaction. The home was renovated and sold four months later for $460,000.

Evangelista, who died earlier this year, received $21,000 from the original home sale and moved to a senior living home in Roseville. Her name was obscured in the city records, but the Bee was able to determine her identity through a search of property records. The name and home sale was confirmed by her son Brandon Evangelista and neighbors.

Evangelista’s son, who was unaware of the sale until after its completion, remains troubled by the transaction. He said his mother dealt with onset dementia during that time and was “ripped off” by the city employees. He also claimed the fire captains did not demonstrate care when clearing out the house and threw out many of his mother’s personal items, including her husband’s ashes.

“I feel these guys should be fired and prosecuted for taking advantage of people in hard times to fill their pockets,” he said in a written statement. “They should have been made examples for others not to do.”

Mora, despite an initial attempt by the department to terminate him, remains a captain. Muraki reached an agreement with the city for a 120-hour suspension and a demotion.

Darin Snedeker stopped working for the department and joined the South Placer Fire District in August 2025, weeks after Sacramento concluded its investigation against him. The city did not find sufficient evidence to confirm his direct involvement in the real estate transaction or a violation of policy. He is now fire chief of the district.

Muraki and Kristen Snedeker declined requests for interviews, but sent separate statements that said the city’s findings contained inaccuracies, false assumptions and “egregious untruths.” They both framed the transaction as a fair deal that sought to help Evangelista, who was living in unsafe conditions and asked for help to move out.

“My partners and I operated with integrity and the highest of intentions throughout the entire process,” Kristen Snedeker wrote. “Any suggestion other than that is false and, quite frankly, offensive.”

Mora and Darin Snedeker, through his wife, declined to comment.

City spokesperson Jennifer Singer, in a written statement, said the city could not comment on personnel matters in response to questions about the investigation and employee discipline.

“However, the city takes all allegations seriously, conducts thorough investigations and takes appropriate action when policies are violated,” Singer wrote.

‘Looking for a way out’

In February 2024, Mora, Muraki and Kristen Snedeker formed the real estate company Good Neighbor Investors with the goal of flipping homes for profit, according to records from the California Secretary of State.

Muraki planned to finance the purchases. Mora, a licensed contractor, would oversee renovations and Kristen Snedeker was tasked with finding and selling properties. She had been using the company’s name in a business capacity since at least late 2022.

In a self-recorded video posted to YouTube in October 2022, Kristen Snedeker is seen inside a recently renovated home. She described the home’s previous owner as a recent widow and grandmother living alone who had fallen behind on maintenance and repair.

“She didn’t have much money or time to deal with it,” she states. “She was looking for a way out.”

Kristen Snedeker ended the video by turning the camera toward kitchen cabinets, which she said were renovated by her husband. Mora, in an interview with the investigation firm Municipal Resources Group, said Darin Snedeker would sometimes help on the company’s projects. Mora also acknowledged performing handyman jobs for Kristen Snedeker on previous real estate projects.

Mora and Muraki became partners of the company in March 2024 when the group began looking at properties in the Orangevale and Carmichael areas, according to the city investigation. Around that same time, the group created a website which stated that working with Good Neighbor Investors would mean homeowners could sell properties to the company with “no repairs required, no commissions or fees, a flexible closing timeline” and an ability to get “cash fast.”

“We care about the community,” said the website, which has since been taken down.

But the company struggled at first. The group was outbid on homes between 12 and 20 times during its first few weeks, Muraki estimated in his interview.

Their fortunes changed in April, when Evangelista, who was living alone in the Robla neighborhood of North Sacramento, called 911 seeking an emergency response for “health and mobility” concerns, according to the city records.

‘Lacking in needs and care’

Evangelista had struggled in the years after her husband’s death.

The couple married in 1987 and soon settled into a home in the Robla neighborhood, where they cared for several dogs before his death in 2017, according to public records and Evangelista’s Facebook posts.

“Happy birthday Miss u,” Evangelista wrote in an April 2024 Facebook post. “To my best friend, my rock, my love of my life to my dear husband.”

Her son said the death, combined with “aggressive chemotherapy sessions,” left his mother isolated and in a vulnerable health condition. Evangelista had endured both breast and cervical cancer. One of her Facebook posts states she also struggled with anxiety and depression.

“After the cancer and dad, she was just different,” he said. “More negative, didn’t want to see people. Pushed me and my wife away. She basically was sitting around waiting to die.”

Neighbors said they rarely saw her leave the house in the years before she sold it.

Reshmi Lata, who lived next door for nearly three years, said Evangelista spent most of her time indoors. When she did venture outside, it was usually to collect food deliveries or let her pitbull outdoors. Often, Lata added, Evangelista would sit in her late husband’s car while the dog played nearby.

“She was lacking in needs and care,” Lata told The Bee.

By multiple accounts, including her own, Evangelista’s physical and mental conditions resulted in the home significantly deteriorating. In her interview with the investigation firm after the sale, Evangelista said she was a “hoarder” and the home was “killing her.”

She recalled the house not having air conditioning and containing mice and cockroaches. Online photos from the home’s listing posted on the Good Neighbors Investors website in 2024 show dark stains and mold across the walls and floor of the home.

“I’m an embarrassment and a burden,” Evangelista told the investigation firm. “My son wouldn’t come and help me. I didn’t have any friends or anything. I was isolated. And it was my dog and me. That was it.”

‘I went off to the hospital’

Muraki first met Evangelista on April 2, 2024, during a medical call for service. Their accounts of the first interaction differed, according to their interviews cited in the investigation.

Evangelista recalled, in two separate interviews, making a comment about wanting to get out of the house, which led Muraki to hand her a post-it note with his phone number while she lay on a gurney and was wheeled to an ambulance.

“He handed it to me and then I went off to the hospital,” she said.

Muraki admitted overhearing her comments about the home but denied handing a note during their first meeting. Muraki said he replied to her: “Maybe I can help you. We can talk when you get out of the hospital.” He said he then returned three days later to drop off a note with his name and phone number.

In the weeks that followed, the Fire Department responded to Evangelista’s residence two more times because of 911 calls while Muraki connected her to Kristen Snedeker, who took the lead on the sale negotiation.

Good Neighbor Investors officially purchased the property on May 15, 2024 for $200,000. Evangelista, who said she owed $197,000 on the property, received $21,409 after escrow closed. When recalling the sale to the investigation firm, she said Kristen Snedeker did not negotiate the price.

“They were going to pay off the mortgage, and they’d give me some,” Evangelista said. “And I just didn’t even know what the sum was going to be.”

Kristen Snedeker, in her written statement, denied the claim and said Evangelista “fully participated in the negotiations.”

In their interviews, Muraki said he knew Evangelista was suffering from a “redacted” condition before the sale of the home, while Mora reported hearing “rumors” about how the property was discovered only after the project renovations began.

As part of the investigation, Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser Ryan Lundquist reviewed the sale listing and property data. He concluded that the $200,000 was a fair market value for the home, according to the city records.

Lundquist declined to comment, citing his confidentiality to the city for the appraisal.

Joseph Lynch, a certified residential appraiser in the Sacramento region, said evaluations for homes generally factor in location, sales comparison for similar properties in the neighborhood and condition. “Fixer” houses are typically more difficult to estimate given that appraisers are not contractors, Lynch added.

“We may miss things, and so we could be wrong on the value of the fixer to a certain extent,” he said.

Profiting and visiting home on duty

Even after the sale, both the fire captains and Kristen Snedeker remained in close contact with Evangelista.

Muraki, who said he stopped at the property four times while on duty, said he installed a car battery for Evangelista during one visit. Other times, he brought department shovels to the home for a day of clean out, checked on renovation progress and showed other crew members the inside of the property, according to the records.

Mora also visited the home a “couple times” and conducted project managing duties while on Fire Department time, according to his interview. Duties while at the firehouse included speaking with laborers and subcontractors, ordering supplies and discussions with other Good Neighbor Investors members, Mora recalled.

The investigation, which originated from anonymous complaint to the office of the city auditor, concluded that Mora had failed to obtain required city permits for eight separate renovations on the home.

Two crew members, interviewed by the investigator, recalled that they joined Mora for one visit to the home during which he initiated a 20-minute department training exercise that involved pulling the fire truck hose to the front door.

Mora reported meeting Evangelista on the first day of the home’s demolition phase. She provided him with a list of personal items that she wanted them to save. Evangelista later claimed that many of those possessions were thrown out. Among the items that went missing were her husband’s ashes, a .22 caliber rifle and jewelry.

In their interviews with the investigator, Mora, Muraki and Kristen Snedeker said Evangelista was present during the clean-out of the home, though many personal belongings could not be transported to her new residence due to a “significant rodent and insect infestation.” Mora, in particular, said he never heard from Evangelista about the ashes.

Her complaints about the missing personal belongings, Evangelista alleged, led Kristen Snedeker to begin buying items for her new residence — a retirement community in Roseville — and helping set up her new furniture.

In her interview, Kristen Snedeker denied that the new purchases were intended as compensation, and made in advance of the home sale.

Evangelista moved into the retirement home at the end of May. Less than four months later, Good Neighbors Investors sold the Sacramento home for $460,000.

Mora, Muraki and Kristen Snedeker each reported profiting $35,000 from the sale. Neither Mora nor Muraki filed any of the required city supplemental employment forms for the additional income.

‘Profound misuse of that trust’

In both Muraki and Mora’s disciplinary letters, the third-party investigation firm reached the same conclusion: their actions had met the definition of fraud and abuse for the city of Sacramento.

“Public service is grounded in the principles of integrity, accountability and the unwavering commitment to serve the community without personal gain… Leveraging your position, uniform and access gained through city service to facilitate a private real estate transaction for personal profit, especially involving a medically and emotionally vulnerable individual, represents a profound misuse of that trust,” said the investigation documents.

Despite this finding, both remain on staff.

Mora’s initial disciplinary letter called for an intent to terminate the captain from his position. The letter noted that Mora had also received a demotion and suspension in December 2018 for consuming alcohol while on duty and making “inappropriate sexual advances” toward a night clerk.

Why Mora was ultimately not terminated is unclear.

Singer did not respond to a question about wording in Mora’s letter, which indicates he requested a Skelly hearing — a pre-disciplinary due process right for California public employees. She confirmed that he is still a captain in the department.

Muraki, through a settlement, agreed to a demotion in rank to firefighter and 120-hour suspension.

The city concluded that allegations against Darin Snedeker were not substantiated.

“While your name came up in the course of the investigation due to your personal connection with the individuals involved, we did not find sufficient evidence to support any finding of direct involvement or violation of policy on your part,” said his investigation closure notice.

His last day working for the city was in August 2025. That same month, he became the deputy chief at South Placer Fire District. He was appointed chief in January.

The Good Neighbor Investors LLC was dissolved in February 2025, according to Secretary of State records. Based on a Facebook page for Mora’s contracting business, the real estate company only flipped one other property aside from Evangelista’s home.

‘Knew her situation’

Evangelista came to regret selling the home, according to both her son and her next door neighbor Gabriel Guerrero. He lived next door to her for 13 years.

Guerrero, who said he talked to her three times after the sale, said she expressed anger over what she felt was a change in attitude from the real estate company members.

“She thought that at the beginning the firefighters were very nice with her and helping her, and then at the end they were very rude to her, like get your stuff out of here,” Guerrero said.

There was also an issue with her late husband’s yellow 1930 Ford Model A classic car. Guerrero alleged that the fire captains tried to underbid her with an offer of $5,000 for the car. He bought the car from Evangelista for $10,000.

Evangelista’s son said much of her frustration also stemmed from how the fire captains treated her possessions during the clean out. He said his mother later had issues paying rent at the senior living home.

“I believe they knew her situation and low-balled her for the house,” he said.

Stacey Wood, who is a national expert on elder fraud issues, called the details of the home sale “concerning” as the fire department employees appear to have used their “special position and access to an older adult to benefit.”

“There should have been an enlistment of social services and not an opportunity to benefit financially,” said Wood, a professor of psychology at Scripps College.

Evangelista died in February, according to public records.

In her final Facebook post on Nov. 25, 2025, Evangelista called the holiday season the worst since her husband died and lamented spending Thanksgiving at her senior living home.

“I just wish I could have a happy holiday but I’m so alone sometimes I wonder would I be better off, gone.”

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