Judge: Kovacich's house worth $855,00

Murder suspect Paul R. Kovacich Jr. is one step closer to being released on bail.Kovacich's friends and family have offered five properties to secure a bond for his release. He's been held at Placer County Jail since his September arrest on $1 million bail on a single count of murder for the 1982 disappearance of his wife, Janet Kovacich.Attorneys on both sides argued Tuesday about the value of John Kovacich's, the suspect's son, property in Arizona.Dan Gong, Placer County deputy district attorney submitted an appraisal with a value of $675,000. The defense said the property was worth closer to $950,000.Judge J. Richard Couzens ruled Wednesday in an Auburn courtroom that the value of Kovacich's son's Arizona home is $855,000. That was the final of five properties to be appraised. Property can be put up for bond when the defendant is unable or unwilling to pay cash to meet bail or hire a bail bondsman, officials said. In the case of a property bond the value of the property must be twice the amount of bail. In this case that's $2 million.Judge Couzens has allowed for the bond to be a combination bond, meaning that property can be offered with a promissory note and a bail bond can be secured for any remaining balance.Prosecutor Dan Gong and Kovacich's attorney, Clyde Blackmon, agreed to appraisals of four properties: the Lake of the Pines home of Paul and Beulaha Kovacich with a value of $495,000 and their Cisco Grove cabin with a value of $430,000; the Foresthill home of Kovacich's girlfriend, Dixie King, with a value of $396,500 and an Arizona property belonging to John Kovacich with a value of $390,000.When totaled, the properties value about $2.5 million. Liens for all the properties total $803,900, according to court records, leaving a net equity of about $1.7 million. But not all that money can be used."Divide that in half and that's what they would be allowed to post. The difference would be in cash or a bail bond," said Frank Calabretta of the Bail House. "That's the way it works."All totaled, the families can use roughly $882,000 in property toward the $1 million bond and secure a bail bond for the remainder, about $118,000.Kovacich was arrested Sept. 5, 2006 in Foresthill following a Placer County grand jury indictment resulting from an intensive three-year investigation.Janet Kovacich, a mother of two, was reported missing by her husband, Paul Kovacich, then a Placer County sheriff's deputy, in September 1982. Her body has never been found.During Kovacich's September arraignment Judge Couzens issued a gag order to all parties involved in the case. Kovacich is scheduled to return to court at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 23 in Department 13 of Placer County Superior Court for a trial setting hearing.The Journal's Penne Usher can be reached at penneu@goldcountrymedia.com.