Humboldt’s Crime Reports Keep on Coming

Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

McKinleyville Murder:  Suspect Arrested (UPDATED)

On Wednesday June 19, at about 1:30 pm, information was
provided to Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office detectives of a
possible murder victim, with the body still in a wooded area
north of C Avenue in McKinleyville, an area commonly referred
to as the “Baldy” area.

Witnesses provided information to detectives that led them to a deceased 33-year old male, whose body was found adjacent to a foot trail at 3:00 pm.  Based on statements from witnesses and the condition of the deceased male, the death is being investigated as a homicide by the HCSO.

Based on the evidence obtained and from witness statements, detectives arrested Michael Raymond Youravish, 21, around 5:00 in the afternoon.

A resident of the McKinleyville and Eureka areas, Mr. Youravish was arrested and taken into custody at a home in the 1400 block of Highland Avenue in Eureka.

He was booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Pokey on suspicion of PC 187, Murder.

The identity of the victim is not being released until a positive identification can be made and family members are notified.  The cause of death is not being released at this time.

UPDATE:  On Saturday June 22, 2013 an autopsy was performed on the victim of this suspected homicide.  At the conclusion of the autopsy the cause of death was determined to be as a result of multiple stab wounds to the neck, chest and abdomen of the victim.

The identity of the victim has been determined to be Forrest Croft Lovejoy (DOB: 07-02-1979), a resident of McKinleyville, California.  The suspect, Michael Raymond Youravish, remains in custody at the Humboldt County Correctional Facility and had an arraignment on Friday June 21 for the charge of Homicide.

HCSO Detective Todd Fulton is requesting that any additional witnesses with information about Michael Youravish or information about this investigation to telephone him at 707-268-3646.

Crystal Meth and Heroin Seizure

On June 19, a Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant received a citizen tip before noon that a vehicle belonging to Neil Eugene Kemp was parked in the parking lot at 409 K Street in Eureka containing drugs.  The citizen told the Sheriff’s Sergeant the vehicle make and color.

The Sheriff’s Sergeant checked the parking lot and located the vehicle matching the description described by the citizen.  The Sheriff’s Sergeant ran a California DMV registration check on the license plate and it came back registered to Kemp.

A Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Detective and his trained narcotics dog were called to the scene with the dog alerting on the vehicle.  The Sheriffs Sergeant also learned that Kemp was in Humboldt County Superior Court dealing with unrelated narcotics charges from a California Highway Patrol Arrest on March 20.

While the Sheriff’s Sergeant was at the vehicle, Mr. Kemp showed up and asked why law enforcement was there.  The Sergeant explained what was occurring and requested consent to search Kemp’s vehicle for narcotics.  Mr. Kemp refused the request.

The Sergeant allowed Kemp to leave on foot while he obtained a Superior Court search warrant for his vehicle.  When the warrant was served on the vehicle, the Sergeant located approximately:

• 25 grams of suspected crystal methamphetamine
• 17 grams of suspected heroin
• Syringes
• and $247.00 in cash

Mr. Kemp never returned and is wanted by law enforcement for possession of narcotics, possession of illicit drugs and possession of syringes.  He is described as: White male adult, 50 years old, 6’ tall, approx 155 lbs, brown eyes, blond hair.

Anyone with information for the Sheriff’s Office regarding this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Sheriff’s Office at 707-445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at 707-268-2539.  We hope Mr. Kemp gets some help and himself into rehab soon.

Inmate Walkaway Surrenders Self

On June 19 at about 2:15 pm, a SWAP inmate work crew was clearing brush near the wooded area of the Humboldt Botanical Gardens on the College of the Redwoods campus. 

A Correctional Officer supervising the work crew noticed an inmate, Lance D. Henry, 24-years old of Fortuna, had not returned from using the restroom.  The officer found a blue jail issued shirt on the ground and determined that Henry had walked away from the work crew. 

Mr. Henry was serving 364 days in jail for a violation of probation.  He was due to be released in four months; his release date was scheduled for October 25, 2013.

On the same day about 7 hours later, Henry Lance had a change of heart and turned himself and his fast feet into the jail.

It’s unknown why Lance walked away from the inmate work crew at College of the Redwoods, but nonetheless, additional charges were being sought against him for escape from custody and being a few Cheerios and bananas short of a bowl and a bunch.

Early Morning Arcata High Speed Motorcycle Pursuit

On June 20 shortly after 1:00 in the morning, Arcata Police officers attempted a traffic stop on a motorcycle with an expired registration.

The motorcyclist fled from officers, leading them in a pursuit that began on Alliance Road at Westwood Court and ended on northbound Highway 101 just north of Giuntoli Lane without further incident.  

The pursuit reached speeds of 70 miles per hour.  It ended when Arcata Police officers boxed in the motorcyclist, identified as Ronald Allen Reike, age 32, of Manila, and forced him to a stop on the east shoulder of northbound Highway 101.

Mr. Reike was arrested for felony evasion, driving with a suspended license, and violation of probation.  He was booked into the Humboldt County Jail.

No persons were injured in this pursuit and no damage occurred to any vehicles or other property.  Intoxication was not determined to be a factor, APD said.

We suspect a lack of probation supervision, however, was a factor with Mr. Reike being a clown without a circus in need of a ringmaster.

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Family Seeks Answers in Disappearance of SoCal Man Headed to ‘Murder Mountain.’

Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

Private Investigator: His Truck Found in Garberville Area
by Colleen Chalmers

Private detectives investigating the disappearance of a Southern California man — who went missing after reportedly heading to work at a marijuana grow near what he called “Murder Mountain” — said this week that his pickup truck was found broken down on private property in southern Humboldt.

Cook & Associates Private Investigation owner and licensed investigator Chris Cook said she’s notified the Humboldt County Sheriff’s office about the latest information related to 30-year-old Garret Rodriguez’s disappearance.

No one has heard from Rodriguez since Christmas time, officials and private investigators said. He was last heard from while en route from his home in the San Diego enclave of Ocean Beach to the mountains of southern Humboldt, where he was reportedly going to work at a marijuana ranch.

Rodriguez’s father, who lives in central Mexico, said he believes some of his son’s friends must know something.  “I believe that some of them know what happened to him, but they’re afraid to come forward and say anything,” Val ‘Buzz’ Rodriguez said. “I know that for a fact.”

His mother, who lives in Georgia, said she knows her son was going to work at an indoor grow in the Rancho Sequoia area near Alderpoint for the winter.  She questions why the two people her son worked with have been silent about the case.

“It’s important for people to know who he was working with,” said Pamela McGinnis, who believes the two business associates were the last to be with her son.  Sheriff’s Office Detective Todd Fulton said the names of the two men Rodriguez worked with are not being released at this time.

“We don’t have any reason to release the names of his associates,” he said.  “As far as I know, his last known location was in San Diego.”

Fulton said the office is investigating Rodriguez’s disappearance as a missing person’s case, but it is unclear if Rodriguez was in the county.

Cook & Associates investigator Jeremy Yanopoulos said Rodriguez had been involved with growing marijuana since high school, and had also been working with marijuana trafficking and sales between Humboldt County and San Diego for a couple years.

“He wasn’t the top guy,” Yanopoulos said. “It doesn’t sound like it was paying particularly well.”

McGinnis said her son never seemed to make much money in the marijuana business.  “I know a lot of young guys go up to Humboldt to try and make a lot of money.  His goal was to save money, but there was always some reason why he didn’t have any,” she said.

His family said Rodriguez was in the marijuana business to save enough money to eventually fulfill his dream of having a home in Mexico.  “It was just the allure of money that got him involved, so he could build his home in Mexico,” McGinnis said.

His aunt Bonnie Taylor, who lives in the Chico area, said she was the last family member to see him before he went missing. She said Rodriguez’s friends were his family.  “He was sweet, loving, caring and good-hearted.  He had a love of life,” she said.  “This guy wasn’t somebody who just goes missing.”

Rodriguez is described as being 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing 180 pounds, with brown hair.  Rodriguez also has a tattoo of a colored ocean scene on his right shoulder.  “He has the most gorgeous green eyes and a beautiful smile,” Taylor said.

Taylor said the family tried to talk Rodriguez out of going to Humboldt County for work.  “We tried as best we could.  He didn’t always make really good choices,” she said.  “Choice of certain friends.  Choice of going up to Humboldt.”

McGinnis said there have been hundreds of friends posting photos and memories of her son on a Facebook page dedicated to bringing him home, saying how much they miss him.  “Everybody’s really concerned,” she said.

Yanopoulos said Cook & Associates is investigating rumors about what has happened to Rodriguez and speculation on why he disappeared. 

It was not until April that Rodriguez was officially reported missing.  Yanopoulos said it was not uncommon for friends
and family members to go short periods of time without
hearing from Rodriguez while he was working in southern
Humboldt.

“But this went way beyond just business as usual,” he said.

His father reported him missing on April 25 after one of his son’s ex-girlfriends told him no one had heard from Rodriguez in months.  Taylor said the family knows in their hearts that Rodriguez made it to southern Humboldt and would have contacted them if he could.

Anyone with information regarding Garret Rodriguez is asked to contact Cook & Associates Private Investigations at 839-7422 or call Chris Cook at 616-4507. You may also contact the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at 445-7251.

(Courtesy of the Times-Standard and Bruce Anderson of the AVA.  Article slightly abridged and pictures added)

Villains and Their Villainy

Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

McKinleyville Homicide Update:

On Saturday June 22, 2013 an autopsy was performed on
the victim of the suspected McKinleyville homicide case.

At the conclusion of the autopsy the cause of death was determined to be as a result of multiple stab wounds to the neck, chest and abdomen of the victim.

The identity of the victim has been determined to be Forrest Croft Lovejoy (DOB: 07-02-1979), resident of McKinleyville, California.

The suspect, Michael Raymond Youravish, remains in custody at the Humboldt County Correctional Facility and had an arraignment on Friday June 21 for the charge of homicide.

Loleta ATV Jack ’n Run

On Saturday, June 22, before 5:00 in the afternoon, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a robbery that just occurred on Cannibal Island Road, near Hawks Hill Road, in Loleta.

When deputies arrived on scene they met with the 65-year old male victim.  He told the deputies he parked a four wheeler ATV on Cannibal Island Road and was about ten feet away from it, working in a field doing something or another.

A silver 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee with Idaho plates and two males inside drove up beside him.  The male passenger exited the vehicle and asked him for a cigarette.  The victim told the male he did not smoke and went back to working in the field.

The male passenger reached into the Jeep and removed a tire iron.  The passenger then began swinging the tire iron at the victim while charging the victim and making verbal threats.

The victim backed away and the male passenger got onto the victim’s four wheeler and drove off with it, driving westbound on Cannibal Island Road with the Jeep heading the same direction following it.

The victim was able to provide a good description of the suspects to the deputies.

While checking the area for the suspects, a citizen contacted the deputies and told them they found a four wheeler in the bushes near Crab Park.

Deputies checked the area and located suspect Kevin Todd Latham, 26, from Woodland, California. Latham was identified by the victim as the passenger who brandished the tire iron at the victim. 

Deputies continued checking the area for the Jeep Cherokee, but were unable to locate it.  At approximately 7:00 pm. a deputy driving by Herrick Avenue and US 101 sighted the Jeep Cherokee parked at Herrick Avenue in Eureka.

The deputy saw the driver, who matched the suspect description leaving the vehicle on foot.  When the deputy was able to get off the highway to access the Jeep, the driver was gone.  The deputy continued to check the area.

At approximately 7:20 pm the same deputy located the second suspect walking in the Broadway McDonald’s parking lot.  The second suspect was identified as Joshua Ellis Moon, 24, from Hoopa.  The victim identified Moon as the driver of the Jeep.

The knuckleheaded duo of Moon and Latham were arrested and booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges of robbery, brandishing a weapon, vehicle theft, and cornucopia amounts of scoundrelous stupidity.

Bail for the nobbyheaded dipsticked goobers was set at $50,000.

Anyone with information for the Sheriff’s Office regarding this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Sheriff’s Office at 707-445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at 707-268-2539, the HCSO added.

Arcata Gas Station Knock Off

On Saturday evening, June 22 at about 8:15 pm, officers from the Arcata Police Department were dispatched to the Texaco Gas Station, 421 J Street, on the report of an armed robbery.

Upon their arrival, officers learned that the lone suspect had fled, according the the APD release.  Officers from the HSU Police Department also responded to assist and the area was searched.  Try as they did, the scurrilous suspect of the robbery was not located.

Through their investigation, officers learned that a male suspect entered the store, threatened the clerk with a knife, and stole an undisclosed amount of money from the register.  The clerk was uninjured.

The scoundrel is described as a White Male in his mid 30′s, Medium build and wearing dark clothing and a beanie.  During the robbery, the suspect wore a bandanna over his face.  The suspect fled the area on foot in an unknown direction.  His identity is not known, APD said.

Due to the vague-to-none description of the culprit everyone remains a suspect, even you.

Anyone with information leading to the identity of the suspect is urged to call the Arcata Police Department at 822-2428.

Transients Believed to Cause Structure Fire Last Night in Eureka

On June 21 before 11 pm, three fire engines, one ladder truck, and two Chief officers from Humboldt Bay Fire were dispatched to a reported structure fire at 400 Broadway in a vacant building formerly known as the East Bay Hydraulics, according to the Humboldt Bay Fire press release.

Prior to arrival, dispatchers began receiving a bevy of calls from multiple concerned reporting parties saying that flames and smoke were visible at the back of the vacant structure and they had better get a move on.

Humboldt Bay Fire units arrived to find smoke and fire from the rear of the building.  A ‘fire attack’ was initiated and the fire was extinguished. During the overhaul phase, a firefighter was injured, transported and evaluated at a local hospital.  He was later released.

The fire was confined to the structure with no damage to an adjacent building or billboard sign. Losses are estimated at approximately $50,000.  During the incident, the Arcata Fire Protection District provided coverage to the City of Eureka and outlying areas.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.  It is believed that the fire started due to transient activities inside the structure, Humboldt Bay Fire said.

Benjamin Franklin once remarked: “A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body.”

Well, Ben, if that’s the case, will cooking up some Mexican brown tar and setting a building on fire suffice?

Valley West Bike Sting Results in Arrest

The City of Arcata– and specifically the Valley West area– have been seeing a significant number of bicycle thefts going on lately.  In an attempt to combat the ongoing problem, the Arcata Police Department conducted a ‘bicycle sting’ operation in Valley West on June 22 looking for the two-wheeled pedalous purloining perps.

An innocent-looking enough bicycle was left unsecured in an identified high crime location.  Officers then layed low, conducting a surreptitious surveillance on the bicycle over donuts and coffee.  Oops, this is Arcata.  Croissants, then.

During the course of the operation, Justin Lawson, 41, of Arcata was arrested and booked into the Humboldt County Jail for 487 PC - grand theft, after he took possession of the bicycle and attempted to flee the scene.

Crime is indeed getting worse in Arcata.  The other day, the statue of William McKinley on the Arcata Plaza had both hands up.  The Arcata Police Department, however, said they will make crime pay.  They urged everyone to become a lawyer.

APD said they’ll continue to conduct this type of operation in the future to deter the theft of personal property.  Mike’s signs haven’t been working.

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Sheriff’s Office Investigating Two Incidents in Alderpoint

(UPDATED)

Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

The Sheriff’s Office has been busy:  a homicide
investigation and large marijuana busts involving three
individuals taking place in Alderpoint over the past two days.

Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Dave Morey said detectives do not know yet if the suspected homicide of a 57-year old man found Thursday on the 3700 block of Rancho Sequoia Road in Southern Humboldt is related to the marijuana search warrants served at two nearby properties on the 4000 and 4500 block of Rancho Sequoia Road on Wednesday.

“It could be, it might not be.  We will see,” Morey said.

The area of Alderpoint– the Rancho Sequoia subdivision– has fondly become known by locals as ‘Murder Mountain’ for good reason.

We have the two Murder Mountain reports– whether or not they’re related is yet to be determined– for you here.

Here’s the HCSO homicide report issued Thursday, June 27:

Detectives from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office are currently investigating a death that has been determined to be suspicious and suspected to be a homicide.  The location of occurrence is the 3700 block of Rancho Sequoia Drive in Alderpoint, CA.

The reporting party called the Sheriff’s Office at 8:50 am stating that she had not heard from her step-father for the last four days and drove to his residence in the 3700 block of Rancho Sequoia Drive.

When she arrived, she discovered her 57-year old step-father was deceased.

Deputies and detectives were dispatched to the residence and ruled the death suspicious.  They are investigating the death as a homicide.

Detectives are looking for a black 2000 Jeep Cherokee, CA license #5HNG536.

The Jeep Cherokee may be driven by Anthony Ray Lane, a white male adult, 37-years old, height 5 foot 10, weighing 185 pounds and with red and brown hair.  His date of birth is 09-18-1975.

Lane is a person of interest in this investigation and he’s being sought for questioning by the Sheriff’s Office. 

Persons should not approach Lane, but if located or spotted, they are asked
to call the Sheriff’s Office. 

The lead investigator is Detective Franco at (707) 268-3644 or (707) 445-7251.

The motive for this suspected homicide is not known at this time.  Detectives are just now arriving at the time of this release.

The name of the victim is not being released until additional family members can be notified.  Due to the infancy of this investigation, the suspected cause of death won’t be released until the Coroner can arrange for an autopsy.

UPDATE– Murder Suspect Anthony Lane Apprehended:

On Thursday June 27, 2013 at about 11:30 pm, Officers from the Willits Police Department located the black Jeep Cherokee that was believed to be operated by suspect Anthony Lane.

The Willits Police Officers had received a “be on the lookout” broadcast issued by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office for this homicide investigation.  The vehicle was found in the parking lot of a motel in the Willits area.

On June 28, 2013 at about 12:30 am, officers of the Willits Police Department, with the assistance of deputies from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, located Lane in one of the rooms of the hotel.

Mr. Lane was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Humboldt County Line, where deputies from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office took custody of him.  Lane was booked into the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office for suspicion of murder and possession of a stolen vehicle– the black Jeep Cherokee.

At this time the motive for the crime is being investigated.  There does not appear to be a connection with the homicide to an earlier marijuana cultivation investigation although the arrests took place in the same area.  This homicide does not appear to be a home invasion, marijuana related, or in association with the Garret Rodriguez missing person investigation.

The Humboldt County Coroner’s Office is still in the process of notification of family members of the victim of this suspected homicide.

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And here’s the second HCSO report– also issued on Thursday, June 27:

On 06-26-2013, at 11:15 am, Humboldt County Drug Task Force Agents, assisted by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office and California Highway Patrol, arrested Matthew Walker, 33, from Alderpoint after he attempted to trade marijuana for a travel trailer.

Approximately two weeks ago Humboldt County Drug Task Force Agents were alerted by a citizen who was selling a travel trailer on Craigslist that a person was trying trade the citizen “herb” for his travel trailer.

A Humboldt County Drug Task Force Agent took over negotiations posing as the seller and began contacting the suspect on line.  The suspect offered to trade four pounds of high grade marijuana and hashish for the trailer.  The Drug Task Force Agent agreed to meet the suspect at Tooby Park in Garberville on the same day at 11:00 am to make the trade.

When the suspect, identified as Matthew Walker, and another male showed up at Tooby Park, both were detained.

Agents searched the vehicle they were driving and located four pounds of marijuana bud and one pound of hashish. 

Mr. Walker was arrested on outstanding felony arrest warrants for cultivation and sales of marijuana issued out of Mendocino County Superior Court and traffic offenses.  The other male was interviewed and released at the scene.

Agents and deputies then drove to Walker’s residence in the 4500 block of Rancho Sequoia Road inAlderpoint where they served a Humboldt County Superior Court search warrant. 

At the residence they located 304 growing marijuana plants ranging from 8” to 2’ in height.  The plants were being grown in greenhouses and outside on the property.  Agents also located another approximate half pound of hashish in the residence, along with a rifle.

Walker was transported to the Humboldt County Correctional Facility where he was booked on his arrest warrants and new charges of cultivation and possession for sale of marijuana.  His bail was set at $55,000.

While at Walker’s property, the Drug Task Force Agents and deputies obtained information about marijuana cultivation on another nearby parcel– in the 4000 block of Rancho Sequoia Road.

They contacted the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office and spoke with an Investigator who obtained a search warrant for that parcel.

When the agents and deputies served the search warrant, they located 1,572 marijuana plants ranging in size from 2’ to 4’ being grown in six green houses. 

They also located a sawed-off shotgun and a AR-15 Assault weapon with high capacity magazines in the residence.

Two men were located at the scene and determined to be associated with the marijuana cultivation.  They were identified as Travis Land, 36 years old, from Redway and Juan Hernandez, from Alderpoint.

Both Land and Hernandez were arrested for cultivation and possession for sale of marijuana.  Agents also learned Travis also had an outstanding felony arrest warrant for cultivation of marijuana.

They were transported and booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility where Mr. Land’s bail was set at $55,000 and Mr. Hernandez’s bail at $25,000.

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Whether or not these two incidents– involving murder and marijuana on Murder Mountain– are intertwined isn’t clear.

One thing is clear, however:  Humboldt County’s marijuana gold rush and the problems following in its wake have turned this County onto its proverbial ear.

Mr. Gallegos, we think you’re gonna need more prosecutors.

Please spread the word.  Share this– and all of our posts– with others, and friend us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.  We appreciate and thank you for reading, and for giving us a little push in the right direction.

Under ‘Castle Doctrine’ Law, It’s OK

Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

The murder case where a homeowner shot an Army vet dead after he caught the man’s relative urinating on his property has now turned into a legal battle over land rights.

James Crocker had grown weary of the partying canoeists and rafters who encroached on his neatly kept property along Missouri’s Meramec River.  When he caught a man about to relieve himself on a gravel bar by his yard last month, a nasty confrontation ensued that ended with one person dead and Crocker accused of killing him.

The case against Crocker is the latest to put a spotlight on “Castle Doctrine” laws, which allow the use of deadly force to protect property.  Missouri is among at least 30 states that have enacted the statutes, which supporters say protect gun rights but others insist promote vigilantism.

Crocker’s attorney, Michael Bert of St. Louis, said that Crocker was defending himself and his property.  “Here’s a man in fear for his life and fearful he might suffer bodily injury,” Bert said.

Prosecutors see it differently.  Witnesses who testified at a hearing this month said Crocker was angry and raging, shooting into the crowd of people, narrowly missing two others before killing 48-year-old Paul Dart Jr. of Robertsville, Mo.  

Crocker has been charged with second degree murder.

Even some supporters of the doctrine say the violence seemed avoidable.  “The smart thing is to back away, and nobody seemed to be willing to do that,” said Kevin Jamison, an attorney who lobbied for Missouri’s Castle Doctrine bill as a member of the Western Missouri Shooters Alliance.

Crocker, a 59-year-old plastics plant worker with long hair and a thick goatee, lives in a small white frame home on a shaded gravel road about eight miles west of Steelville, the self-proclaimed floating capital of the world.  Tens of thousands of people come to the region every year to raft, canoe or kayak down the Meramec and nearby rivers.   To keep out the unwanted, Crocker posted “No Trespassing” and “Private Property” signs along the hill that slopes down to a gravel area along the meandering river.

Drinking is sometimes part of the outings, resulting in bawdy behavior that doesn’t sit well with owners of land that touches the river.  Many have complained for years about loud parties, trash left behind and crude behavior.

On July 20, Dart, a carpenter and veteran, and around four dozen other members of an extended family gathered at a campground for their annual float trip along the Meramec.  A few hours into the trip, Robert and Regina Burgess stopped their canoe on a gravel bar.  Robert, who had drunk about three beers, decided to relieve himself, he testified at the preliminary hearing.

Crocker confronted Burgess and other members of the party.  What happened then is in dispute, and will be a crucial part of the case.

Burgess and his wife testified that Crocker was immediately agitated and aggressive, firing two shots in their direction – Robert said one hit the ground near his feet.  Another bullet hit Dart in the face.  Burgess said it was only after Dart was shot that members of the party picked up rocks to defend themselves against Crocker, who was armed with a 9mm semi-automatic pistol.

“I’m standing there unarmed and the guy’s got a gun,” Burgess said.

Crocker didn’t testify at the hearing, but his attorney gave a different account.

In an interview, Bert said Crocker politely asked the float trip party to leave.  ”The response he got was angry and profane,” Bert said.

Crocker and those in the float trip party argued over whether the gravel bar was public land or Crocker’s. Eventually, the men picked up “softball-sized rocks and then began pelting Crocker,”
Bert said.  He said Crocker suffered head injuries, then fired his gun
to defend himself.

Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper Joseph Peart testified that he saw no evidence that Crocker was injured.  Police said Crocker told them, “I just shot the one closest to me.”

Whether or not the floaters were on Crocker’s property may be an issue in the case since Missouri law isn’t clear on where private property along a waterway begins.  Some experts say it starts at the vegetation line; others say property rights extend to the center of a river or stream.

Missouri’s Castle Doctrine statute, enacted in 2007, gives residents a legal right to defend themselves and their property against intruders.  

Supporters of such laws cite a number of cases in which homeowners were able to fend off burglars or other criminals without fear of prosecution.  

But Florida’s law gained notoriety after a neighborhood watch activist, George Zimmerman, fatally shot teen Trayvon Martin, and was acquitted of criminal charges.

A 2012 Texas A&M University study found that homicides ruled justifiable rose by 8 percent in states with “stand-your-ground” laws.

In the Missouri case, Crawford County detective Zachary Driskill asked Crocker if he could have called police instead of taking matters into his own hands.

“I guess I could have, but it’s my property and I was going to protect it,” Crocker responded.

(Via KCBS 12 News)

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One Fatality Confirmed; Another Left With Serious Injury (UPDATED)

Picture Series Link Below

Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

From the Times-Standard Media Center:

A crossbow attack left one person dead and another with injuries off New Navy Base Road in Samoa on Sunday, September 8, 2013.

Two suspects, a black female age 25-30 and a white male age 25-30 fled the scene on bikes later retreating into the dunes.

Law enforcement with a K9 unit searched the area following a trail towards the ocean; air support could not assist due to low fog.

Little information is available at this time.  Further details are expected to be released by the Sheriff’s Office as more information becomes available.

The Times-Standard Media Center 23-photo series link by Nick Adams is here.  Warning:  some of the images are graphic.

**UPDATE September 9, 2013**

From the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:  Suspects Sought, One Identified

On Sunday September 8, 2013 at about 12:32 PM, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch Center received a 911 call of a possible injured man lying on the southbound shoulder of HWY 255 and New Navy Base Road, Eureka (approximately 100 yards north of this intersection).

While deputies were responding, a second person called the Sheriff’s Office to report the injured male appeared to have been shot twice with an arrow and there were two people fleeing the area on bicycles, possibly suspects or involved with this incident.

One witness attempted to detain these individuals, at which point the suspects abandoned their bicycles and fled into a heavily wooded area on the west side of the road.

Deputies arrived in the area around 12:39 PM and located a 41-year old male victim who had suffered three injuries that would later be determined to be from a crossbow.  The victim had a grazing scalp wound, an arrow to the hip and an injury on his shin from a glancing arrow injury.  The victim was transported to an area hospital where he was treated and released for his injuries.

Deputies then located a second victim, found deceased, approximately 200 yards west and into the wooded area from where the first victim was located.  This 44-year old male suffered a single arrow to the face.  The names of the victims being withheld at this point.

An extensive manhunt was undertaken in the heavily wooded and coastal area for the two suspects. Assisting was a helicopter from the California Highway Patrol, Wardens from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Officers from the Arcata Police Department along with a K9 from that agency, Deputies from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff’s Office Special Services including ATV’s for searching the beach, and Rangers from the Bureau of Land Management.

The search was called off at approximately 11:45 PM.

Detectives from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office have been assigned to this investigation. The motive for this incident appears to be the belief of the suspects that the victims may have stolen items from their transient camp.  The victims are homeless and have been occupying an encampment for the last several months.  It appears the suspects were newly arrived to the area and had a crude encampment, which a search warrant was sought for and served on.

The Sheriff’s Office is seeking the assistance of the public for any information on the suspects in this case:

Phoenix Triton King, white male, DOB 09-12-92, short blond hair, blue eyes and black heavy framed glasses, 5‘7” and 140 pounds. 

Mr. King is believed to be from Lake County, California.

King is traveling with the second suspect in this case, who happens to be a 16-year old female, and for that reason, her name is not being released:

Female, black or dark skin, 16 years of age, shoulder length “frizzy” hair that is most often worn in a bun, black hair, brown eyes, 5‘0”, 120 pounds.

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the arrest of both individuals for Murder and Attempted Murder.  These individuals are to be considered dangerous and potentially armed.  Anyone who believes they have seen these individuals are encouraged to not approach and telephone 911 with information.

Detective Jen Turner has been assigned as the lead investigator on this incident.  Anyone having further information on this case is asked to call
her at 707-268-3642.

**UPDATE September 10, 2013**

Both suspects were arrested yesterday near Friends of the Dunes Humboldt Coastal Nature Center in Manila. 

The Times-Standard has the details in their full story by Thadeus Greenson here.

* * * * * * * *

Our appreciation to, and via, Nick Adams and the Times-Standard

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One Suspect Dead, Another Sought

(VIDEO)

Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

WASHINGTON — At least 13 people died Monday during a shooting at the Washington Navy Yard, officials said. 
One gunman died in the shooting, and police are seeking
another possible shooter.

The suspected gunman was identified by the FBI as Aaron Alexis, a 34-year-old civilian contractor from Queens, N.Y., who most recently resided in Fort Worth, Texas.  The mass shooting occurred four miles from the White House.  Earlier reports indicated 12 individuals died in the shooting massacre.

The U.S. Navy said Alexis was a full-time reservist from 2007 to 2011.  He left the Navy on Jan. 31, 2011, as a petty officer 3rd class and had been working for the fleet logistics support squadron No. 46 in Fort Worth.

Washington Mayor Vincent Gray said Alexis was shot during an exchange with a Metro Police officer.

Alexis was arrested in Fort Worth in 2010 for discharging a firearm in city limits, police records show.  Charges were never filed.

The Navy Yard was placed on lockdown after shots were fired inside a building on the base, the Navy said.  A Metro police officer and naval base officer were among those injured in the shooting, according to the D.C. Metro Police.

“As far as we know, it’s an isolated incident,” Gray said.  ”We have no known motive at this stage.”

The mayor said there was “no reason at this stage” to believe it was terrorism, but would not rule it out.

D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said authorities were seeking a potential second suspect, described as a black male, approximately 40 to 50 years old, 5 foot 10, 180 pounds, medium complexion with gray sideburns, wearing an olive military-style uniform and carrying “a long gun.”

Before a scheduled economic speech at the White House, President Barack Obama deplored “yet another mass shooting” — this one targeting military and civilian personnel.

“These are men and women who were going to work, doing their job, protecting all of us,” Obama said.  ”They’re patriots, and they know the dangers of serving abroad.  But today they faced the unimaginable: violence that they wouldn’t have expected here at home.”

“We will do everything in our power to make sure that whoever carried out this cowardly act is held responsible,” the president added.  ”I want the investigation to be seamless.”

Janis Orlowski, chief medical officer at Washington Hospital Center, said one Metropolitan Police officer and two civilians are being treated there.  All three arrived in critical condition, Orlowski said, but are expected to make a full recovery.

One was shot in the legs, another in the shoulder. Those victims were in surgery, Orlowski said.  A woman who was shot in the head and hand would not need surgery because the bullet did not penetrate her skull.

The Navy said shots were fired at the Naval Sea Systems Command Headquarters building on the base at 8:20 a.m., and a “shelter in place” order was issued for Navy Yard personnel.

Rick Mason, a program management specialist, told Yahoo News he was on the fourth floor when he saw someone with a shotgun aiming down into the atrium.  The gunman, Mason said, was targeting people who walked into the cafeteria.

Other employees described a chaotic scene.

“We heard two shots and started wondering if that was the sound of someone dropping something or if they were really shots,” Omar Grant, a civilian employee at the Navy Yard who was on the first floor of the atrium, said.  ”We heard three more shots, and that’s when people started running out of the building and getting the hell out of there.”

Grant then led a blind colleague to safety.

Approximately 3,000 people work in the building, the Navy said, though it’s unclear how many people were inside at the time of the shooting.

The U.S. Senate complex was locked down “in light of the uncertainty surrounding the shooting at the Navy Yard this morning and particularly the possibility of suspects remaining at large,” the Senate said in an alert to staffers.  ”You may move about the building; however, for the next two hours you may not leave nor can anyone enter the building.”

A White House official said the president had been briefed several times throughout the morning about the unfolding situation at the Navy Yard by assistant to the president for homeland security and counter- terrorism Lisa Monaco and deputy chief of staff Alyssa Mastromanaco.

A heavy SWAT and police presence could be seen around the Navy Yard.  Outside the base, employees sat huddled, crying and holding each other.  At least one of the victims was airlifted from the scene, as helicopters circled overhead.

A temporary ground stop was ordered at Reagan National Airport, and schools in the area were placed on temporary lockdown.

The 41-acre Navy Yard, located five blocks from Nationals Stadium and a mile and a half from the Capitol, is home to the chief of naval operations and headquarters for the Naval Historical Center and numerous naval commands.

The Washington Nationals postponed Monday’s home game against the Atlanta Braves in the wake of the tragedy.

According to the Navy’s website, Naval Sea Systems “engineers, builds, buys and maintains the Navy’s ships and submarines and their combat systems.”  Approximately 60,000 people work there.

The Washington Post Local has more details here. 

(Via Yahoo News)

‘Eureka One of the Most Dangerous Cities in the US’

Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

The City of Eureka has a crime problem. 

A very significant one.

From the Times-Standard this morning:

The Eureka Police Department launched a murder investigation Wednesday after a popular St. Bernard Church priest was found dead after failing to show up to Mass.

Police Chief Andrew Mills declined to identify the victim in the case, but Mayor Frank Jager confirmed that Rev. Eric Freed was found deceased in the rectory building on the church property shortly after 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Wednesday afternoon, police were called to Sacred Heart Church on Myrtle Avenue, where a church employee reported an unlawful entry.  The employee opened the church door to find a man inside.

Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Dave Morey said the unidentified man fled the scene as the employee called police.

Morey said it’s unclear if the incident was in any way related to Freed’s killing…

UPDATE:  EPD announced an arrest warrant for the murder of
Father Eric Freed.

The suspect is Gary Lee Bullock who was released from the Humboldt County jail at 12:34 am on  Jan. 1. and matches the description of a man seen around church that night.  Chief Mills said there were signs of a violent struggle at the rectory.

…You can read the full Times-Standard article here by Thadeus Greenson

We have problems.

From the Samoa Softball website, Richard Marks reports on Eureka being one of the most dangerous cities to live in the United States.

In fact, according to one study, 98% of al other cities are safer than here:

With the recent murder of Father Eric Freed of the St Bernard’s, maybe it is time to remind people in Humboldt County that Eureka is one of the most dangerous places to live in California for many years. According to Home Surfer nearly 95% of all other cities in California are safer!

Here are some references to check out:

According to Neighborhood Scout, 98% of the cities in the United States are safer than Eureka! 

Here is more information that will blow your mind from City Data. 156 sex offenders live in Eureka!

Check the crime index per year! According to USA.com  Eureka ranks  451 out of 464 cities in California in safety!

In 2006 we were above the US national average for every type crime identified! This problem has been around for quite a while. This according to Eureka Area Connect.

Just more and more statistics verifying crime in Eureka from Area Vibes. The chances of being a victim of a crime in Eureka is 1 in 16!

The crime rate City of Eureka is over 113% higher than the National average and has been consistently almost double the State and National average since 1999 according to City Ratings Crime Statistics!

And there is much more information available. What is the solution?  Hopefully the hiring of (Eureka Police Chief) Andy Mills will help some, but give him prayers for help.

* * * * * * * * *

Why can’t the Eureka Police Department make a dent in our fair city’s significant crime rise?

The Eureka Chief of Police was paid roughly $133,000 in 2010– but his total wage compensation package bumped up to nearly $156,000, according to the California State Controller.

The EPD Chief’s wages were followed by:  his Captain annually topping out at $112,500;  two Lieutenants making approximately $107,000 each; and nine sergeants pulling in $71,831 to $103,462 each.

And don’t forget EPD’s 89 other employees– ranging from 37 police officers to dispatchers to records specialists to an animal control technician, at different salary levels.  In all, there are nearly 100 EPD personnel fighting crime in various capacities in the 15-square miles of Eureka, not to mention the agreed assistance from the Sheriff’s Office, the Highway Patrol, and the Parole and Probation departments.

We hope Eureka can save itself from the self-serving dysfunctional miasmus of muck and mire it has fallen into.  Good luck with the current status quo in charge changing anything, other than paying their own handsome salaries and consequently letting the roads and city fall into disrepair.

Our beautiful city by the bay should be a pearl, an oasis of Northern California living.  Instead, it has become a backwater cesspool of everything mismanaged, criminal, and gone wrong by all current accounts. 

It is unnacceptable.  The citizens of Eureka shouldn’t be left hanging with such a dire state of affairs.  They absolutely should demand better.  Until that happens, little to nothing will change– as we’ve seen over and over again.

* * * * * * * * *

Gary Lee Bullock Released From County Jail Just Hours Before Slaying

(VIDEO)

Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

Authorities have taken into custody a California man who they
believe killed a Roman Catholic priest in a Eureka church rectory,
the Chief of Police said. 

He was taken into custody in Southern Humboldt this afternoon.

Eureka Police Chief Andy Mills announced Thursday that an arrest warrant had been issued for Gary Lee Bullock, asking for the public’s help in tracking down him and a 2010 Nissan hybrid belonging to the slain priest.

The previous day, the Rev. Eric Freed was found dead in the rectory at St. Bernard Church in the coastal Northern California city.  While he hasn’t given a motive, Mills elaborated Thursday that Freed died after suffering “blunt force trauma” following a “violent struggle.”

His gruesome death — which the county coroner official ruled a homicide on Thursday — has shaken many in and around Eureka, both members of the parish he served, the nearby university where he taught and the community at large.

“Eric knew as well as anybody just how senseless violence could be,” said Wiliam Herbrechtsmeier, a professor at Humboldt State University where Freed had taught since 2007.  ”When a fine person like him is brought down– that’s just tragic.”

Bullock wasn’t unknown to local authorities;  in fact, he’d been in custody earlier on the same day that Freed was found dead.

Police explained that, on New Year’s Eve, Humboldt County sheriff’s deputies responded to reports of a person “acting strangely” in Garberville.  They went to the scene and arrested Bullock for public intoxication, taking him to a jail where “he was rejected due to his erratic behavior,” Eureka police said in a press release.

Bullock — who last known address is in Redway, California — was then moved to a nearby hospital “where he became more agitated and had to be physically restrained by deputies,” police added.  He was eventually booked into a jail shortly after 4:30 p.m. that day, staying there for over 8 hours before his release at 12:43 a.m. on January 1.

Less than two hours later, police got a call about a suspicious person at St. Bernard Church.  Officers found Bullock but, as he wasn’t “intoxicated and did not qualify for an emergency psychological hold,” didn’t detain him but instead referred him to a shelter, Mills said.

At some point in the hours after that, a guard at Freed’s church found a person matching Bullock’s description on the premises and told him to leave, police said.

It was at 9 a.m. that authorities were called back to St. Bernard, this time after church staff came across Freed– who officers and a doctor, who happened to be a parishioner, both determined was already dead.  Mills said police later determined there were signs of “forced entry” and the aforementioned struggle.

Hours later, mourning parishioners and community leaders gathered outside the church-turned-crime scene to remember the late priest.

Mayor Frank Jager said Freed was a personal friend and
a “tremendous person in this community” since his arrival
three years ago.  

The 56-year-old’s loss was felt deeply elsewhere as well.

“He was a really, genuinely warm individual,” said professor Stephen Cunha, the chairman of Humboldt State University’s religious studies department where Freed taught. “… Kind is the word that comes to mind, sensitive.”

Just a few days ago, the priest sent a note to his parishioners, thanking them for their support and prayers and wishing them a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

“I cannot tell you how proud and honored I am to be your pastor,” Freed wrote in a letter posted on the parish website.  ”Our parish is alive, joyful and full of faith, hope and charity that define us as Catholic Christians.”

While he was relatively new to St. Bernard, Freed had already made an impact there and elsewhere around Eureka– including with the city’s Japanese-American community, as Freed lived in Japan for many years– Jager told reporters.

“This is an absolutely tremendous loss not only for the St. Bernard’s Parish, but for our community generally,” the mayor said.  ”For those of us who believe in prayer, this is the time for that.”

Freed’s ties to Humbodt State went back even longer.  A guest lecturer, he wrote a book about the first atomic bomb and also taught about the New
Testament, connecting with Christians and non-Christians alike.

“He was very well respected, very well liked and had a tremendous working knowledge as well as academic knowledge,” Cunha said.  ”… To think that he passed in this way: It’s just layers of grief and shock.”

Herbrechtsmeier said he got to know Freed well not just at Humboldt State but outside as well, often joining the enthusiastic pastor– a diehard University of Southern California Trojan fan– to watch sports and enjoy some laughs.

Noting that students at the state university loved Freed, who was also deeply involved in that school’s Catholic student group, the Newman Center, Cunha added:  This was not some stuffy clergyman. He was very much someone that you could sit down and speak with…

“He connected with everybody.”

(Via Yahoo and CNN News)

See also:  One Slain Priest and the Lost City of Crime

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One Small Detail Not Mentioned: 
Suspect Was on Probation and Shouldn’t Have Been Released From Jail 

Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

The crime stats for Eureka are indeed bad.  Very bad.  
The reasons are varied and many.

The Eureka Police Department has 100 sworn employees for less than a 15-mile square area.  To note, the top 10 EPD officers make upwards of $90,000+ a year.  The Chief of Police pulled in a total compensation of $156,000 in 2010.  Eureka also has the agreed upon assistance of the HCSO, CHP, Humboldt Bay Fire, the Probation and Parole Departments, and the FBI within the city limits.

That apparently isn’t enough to take a bite out of crime in Eureka.

An overcrowded jail that releases offenders early doesn’t help matters of crime, either.  But let’s take a closer look at one situation that happened recently.

After being brought to the jail on a new offense, Gary Lee Bullock, the alleged suspect in Rev. Freed’s slaying, was released on his OR (own recognizance) only a few hours before Freed’s murder.  Unbelievably, EPD was called back and contacted him again a second time due to his erratic behavior.  Bullock was merely referred to the Rescue Mission at that time.

One of the rarely mentioned points to consider is this: Mr. Bullock was placed on a three-year probation term
back in April for cocaine possession.  Along with that grant
of probation came a set of terms which Bullock agreed to for
obeying all laws of the community– or he’d be back in  jail.

When originally brought to the jail he should have been retained on a ‘Probation Hold’ until the Humboldt County Probation Department or District Attorney’s Office—who had the  jurisdiction in the matter– properly assessed his situation.  That didn’t occur.

That’s the whole idea behind the preventative  ’community safety’ thing.  There are pre- and post release procedures in place that should have been followed for individuals granted probation.  Were they?  A process exists providing for an appropriate level of scrutiny and investigation of probationers arrested for new offenses, duly superseding jail overcrowding and holding them before subsequent release into the community.

Once Bullock’s second law enforcement contact was made, he certainly should have been returned to the jail so his situation could be looked into further by his probation officer.  He was clearly– twice– in violation of the terms of his probation in a relatively short period of time.  And yet nothing happened.

Mr. Bullock, despite his felony probation status, surprisingly wasn’t held whatsoever for his case to be reviewed.  More unbelievably, he was released out of the jail– kicked out the door and onto the street to himself without assessment or any supervision whatsoever– at 12:43 in the morning, hours before the Catholic priest’s slaying in the Eureka rectory merely a few blocks away from the jail, EPD headquarters, and directly across the street from the Probation Department’s Adult Services Division.

Bullock’s probation status and lack of supervision hasn’t been brought up nor
is it widely known to the public.  It warrants investigation because other incidents, similar in nature, have been occurring routinely.  In fact, it is quietly happening all too often following our review of several hundred crime reports over the past two years. 

Think Jason Warren’s alleged brutal murder of Dorothy Ulrich and the subsequent hit and run of the Bayside joggers.  In that instance, Warren, already sentenced to State Prison, never should have been released from the jail to freely engage in his murderous rampage upon others.

We wonder if things would have turned out differently if the ‘probation hold’ process that was in place and should have occurred actually happened, and to what degree it did in both cases.  When the system fails, it fails for all of us.

Both situations should have turned out differently.  But Probation Officers and District Attorneys don’t like to work after 5 pm, on the weekends, or on the holidays.  And the jail and courts finds it far too easy to release those in custody early as long as nothing bad ever happens.

In these cases and others, however, something bad did happen.  With deadly and dire consequences.  Oops.

We hope the Grand Jury or Superior Court will look into whether the proper probation pre-and post release procedures were actually followed in both the Gary Lee Bullock and Jason Warren cases– and to the totality of circumstances as to why they happened in the first place.

Otherwise, these situations will happen again and again with random precision, a deadly and ongoing criminal problem falling through the cracks of a complacent bureaucracy– and swept under the rug as necessary.

* * * * * * *

As the County pleads for more jail funding and the Eureka City Council and Police Department look to increase taxes by extending Measure O (which provided $8.7 million for public safety since it was enacted in 2010), citizens may want to ask the conductors of the ‘give-us-more-money’ gravy train if we’re actually getting the services we’re already paying for.

19-Year-Old Serial Murderer Part of Satanic Cult Luring Victims, She Says

(VIDEO)

Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

SUNBURY, PA– Move over Dexter.

Nineteen-year-old satanist Miranda Barbour admits to killing Troy LaFerrara of Port Trevorton.  And there are more victims spread across the nation, she claims.

In a prison interview Friday night, she said that she considered sparing his life until he said the wrong thing.  She also said LaFerrara was one of dozens of such victims she killed in the past six years.

Barbour, with her husband, Elytte Barbour, 22, of Selinsgrove, has been charged by Sunbury police in the Nov. 11 fatal knifing of LaFerrara.  She requested an interview that was recorded by the Northumberland County Prison on Friday night.

While she offered scant details of her participation in slayings in Alaska, Texas, North Carolina and California, city police confirmed Saturday they had been working, prior to her revelations Friday night, with investigators from other states and the FBI about Miranda Barbour’s possible connection to other killings.  

The majority of her murders, she said, took place in Alaska.

City police on Saturday would not comment on the status of those investigations.

At 22 Victims, “I Stopped Counting”

Asked Friday night how many people she had killed, Miranda Barbour said through a jailhouse phone:  “When I hit 22, I stopped counting.”

She wants to plead guilty to LaFerrara’s murder, and said she is ready to speak with police about her other victims.

“I can pinpoint on a map where you can find them,” she said.  LaFerrara, Miranda Barbour said, was Elytte’s first victim.

The 42-year-old Port Trevorton resident was killed on the Barbours’ three-week wedding anniversary.  “I remember everything,” Miranda Barbour said. “It is like watching a movie.”

She said she agreed to sex for $100 with LaFerrara, whom she met through a Craigslist ad.  The two met in the parking lot of the Susquehanna Valley Mall in Hummels Wharf, and drove nearly six miles to Sunbury.

At one point, she planned to let LaFerrara out of her Honda CRV.

“He said the wrong things,” she said. “And then things got out of control. I can tell you he was not supposed to be stabbed. My husband was just supposed to strangle him.”

Time to “Get It Out”

According to the obtained court documents, Miranda Barbour stabbed LaFerrara 20 times as Elytte Barbour sprang from the floor of the back seat to strap a cord around LaFerrara’s neck.

As she said upon her arrest, Miranda Barbour on Friday night repeated that LaFerrara tried to grope her, but she said it was his words that set her off.

“I lied to him and told him I just turned 16,” she said.

“He told me that it was OK.  If he would have said no, that he wasn’t going to go through with the  arrangement, I would have let him go.”

Miranda Barbour said she doesn’t care whether people believe her, that she wanted to tell her story because she wanted to come clean and stop living a lie.  She said she felt no remorse for her victims and said she killed only “bad people,” a belief she traced through a troubled childhood.

She said she was sexually molested at age 4 and was introduced to murder at 13, literally in the hands of a man who led her to satanism — beliefs that she said she held at the time of the LaFerrara homicide.

“I feel it is time to get all of this out,” she said.  “I don’t care if people believe me. I just want to get it out.”

Suspect: I Joined Satanic Cult

Miranda said when she was 4, she was sexually molested by a relative.

Elizabeth Dean, Miranda’s mother, confirmed Saturday that her sister’s husband was later arrested and charged with sexual abuse of a minor and sentenced to 14 years in prison.

“It was bad,” Dean said. “I never let (her) stay anywhere except for my sister’s house, and I was devastated when I found out.”

Nine years later, Miranda joined a satanic cult in Alaska.  Soon after, Miranda said, she had her first experience in murder.

Barbour said she went with the leader of the satanic cult to meet a man who owed the cult leader money.

“It was in an alley and he (the cult leader) shot him,” she said, declining to identify the cult leader.

“Then he said to me that it was my turn to shoot him.  I hate guns.  I don’t use guns.  I couldn’t do it, so he came behind me and he took his hands and put them on top of mine and we pulled the trigger.  And then from there I just continued to kill.”

While in the satanic cult, Miranda became pregnant.  The cult did not want her to have the baby, so, she said, members tied her to a bed, gave her drugs and she had an “in-house abortion.”

However, her mother on Saturday said that when Miranda told her about the abortion, she took her daughter to a doctor who said there were no signs of an ended pregnancy.

Miranda said she spent the next three years in Alaska, continuing in the satanic cult and participating in several murders.

“I wasn’t always there (mentally),” she said, adding that she had begun to use drugs.  “I knew something was bad inside me and the satanic beliefs brought it out.  I embraced it.”

During those three years, Miranda said she became pregnant again.

“And I moved to North Carolina,” she said.  “I wanted to start over and forget everything I did.”

She left Alaska as a high-ranking official in the satanic world, leaving the father of her second pregnancy, a man named Forest, the No. 2 leader in their cult, who was murdered.

Ready to Talk to Police

Although Miranda would not say who else may have been involved in the alleged murders, she said all police have to do is talk to her because she is ready to speak.

“I would lure these people in,” she said.  

“I studied them.  I learned them and even became their friend.  I did this to people who did bad things and didn’t deserve to be here anymore.”

Sunbury police Chief Steve Mazzeo said authorities are aware of Miranda’s claims of murders, are taking them very seriously, and are also aware of Friday night’s interview.  Prison officials have been cooperating with his department, Mazzeo said.

“We are reviewing the recording of interview and I will not confirm or deny anything at this point,” he said.

“I will however say that through investigations by lead officer Travis Bremigen, he has been in contact with several other states and is working with law enforcement from various cities and towns.  From information we gathered and from information gathered from her interview we are seriously concerned and have been in contact with the proper authorities,” Mazzeo said.

Mazzeo also said investigators will be looking into the death of a man with whom Miranda Barbour had a 1-year-old child.  He would not elaborate.

During the interview, Miranda was asked that, given her small stature, how people would believe she would be capable of murder.

“Looks,” she said, “can be deceiving.”

Asked why she pleaded not guilty to the LaFerrara murder, she simply said: “I didn’t want to.”

“When I was at my arraignment and the judge asked me how do I plead, I was ready to say guilty and my attorney (chief public defender Ed Greco) grabbed the microphone and said not guilty.”

Miranda Barbour said she has not spoken with her husband since the day she was arrested, but saw a news photo of Elytte Barbour’s new teardrop tattoo that he displayed at his most recent court appearance.

Husband:  “Proud of What He Did”

Elytte Barbour, her accomplice, is being held in Columbia County Jail.

“He is proud of what he did,” she said. “I will always love him.”

Elytte Barbour told officers before his arrest that he and his wife, Miranda, had planned to kill before, but their plans never worked out.

That was until victim Troy LaFerrara responded to an online posting that promised companionship in return for money, authorities said.

According to Sunbury police, Elytte Barbour told investigators he hid in the backseat of the couple’s SUV as his wife picked up LaFerrara at a mall Nov. 11.  He told police that, on his wife’s signal, he wrapped a cord around LaFerrara’s neck, restraining him while Miranda Barbour stabbed him.

Following his wife’s arrest, Elytte Barbour told news media that Miranda Barbour, whom he married Oct. 22, regularly hired herself out as a “companion” to men she met on various websites, a business venture he said he supported because it didn’t involve sexual contact.

Barbour said his wife made anywhere from $50 to $850 by meeting with men for such activities as having dinner together or walking around a mall.  The ads she placed on websites including Craigslist all said upfront that sex was not part of the deal, he said.

“She is not a prostitute,” he said. “What she does is meet men who have broken marriages or have no one in their lives, and she meets with them and has delightful conversation.”

Miranda said she has no regrets for any of her alleged crimes.

“I have none,” she said.

“I know I will never see my husband again and I have accepted that.  I know I wanted to talk about all this because I know I had a 20-year window where I would possibly get out of jail and I don’t want that to happen.  If I were to be released, I would do this again.

“By no means is this a way to glorify it or get attention.  I’m telling you because it is time for me to be honest and I feel I need to be honest.”

* * * * * * * * *

Via Newsy/Google News/Sunbury Times/BBC

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EPD and Coroner’s Office Release Identities of Suspect, Victims

Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

On Wednesday, March 26 at 5:57 pm, Eureka Police officers came upon two murder victims while responding
to a call in a Eureka home.

They had initially responded to the residence located at 2109 Harris Street for a citizen’s report of an injured person in the house.

Officers entered the house to render first aid and found a man deceased with obvious trauma, namely what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the head.  

Checking the rest of the house for other persons who may need help, they found a second person deceased as well.  He, too, suffered from a gunshot wound to the head, Eureka Police said.

Based on evidence collected at the scene, EPD investigators believe the crime was a double homicide. 

One person was detained at the scene and arrested as the lone suspect in the murders.

Investigators will continue to process the scene for the rest of today.  The deceased have been identified but their names are being withheld until family members are notified by the Coroner’s Office (see below).

The suspect taken into custody is Eureka resident Vincent “Vinnie” Earnest Sanchez, DOB: 04-30-1985.  

Sanchez was booked into the Humboldt County Jail on two counts of homicide.  Mr. Sanchez, to note, has had prior contacts and arrests by law enforcement.  It is unknown if Sanchez was on probation or being supervised previous to the murders occurring.

* * * * * * * * *

The Coroner’s Office recently identified the first victim as Richard “Rick” Storre, 60, of Eureka.  The second victim is confirmed as Lance Delbert Henry, 25.  Mr. Henry is reportedly the half- brother of suspect Vincent Sanchez.

This is the third homicide to occur, rocking the small city of Eureka, population 27,000, in almost as many months.

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A Random Stop Leads to a
Brutal and Violent Encounter

Award-Winning **VIDEO**

Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

Be forewarned.  The above video isn’t pleasant. 
You may not want to see it. 

It’s an accurate and true portrayal of tragic and violent events as they happened.  Shocked and dumbstruck by its harsh reality and brutal ferocity, it’s not only what you see but also what you hear.  It’s ugly.

We were taken aback.  It was that brutal and senseless.  And it escalated as quickly on film as it did in real life.

We don’t like intolerable abuses by law enforcement and we often report about them.  This, however, is the flip side of that story.  It’s the other side of the coin, a very dark and tragic one underscoring the life and death consequences that law enforcement may meet at any given time.  Especially when hesitating making split-second decisions.

On Monday, January 12, 1998, near the end of his shift, Laurens County Deputy Kyle Dinkheller made his last and final stop before going home, pulling a motorist over for speeding.

Dinkheller encountered the speeding Toyota pickup truck near Dudley, Georgia, which he clocked at nearly 100 miles per hour.  The deputy pulled the truck over on a rural dirt road adjacent to Interstate 16.

The traffic stop at first appeared to be a routine one.  Both the deputy and Brannan exited their vehicles and exchanged greetings.  Brannan, however, placed both hands
into his pockets.  Dinkheller instructed him to remove his hands and keep them in plain
view.

Brannan then became agitated and belligerent.  He yelled at the deputy to shoot him.  He then began to dance and wave his arms around in the middle of the road.

Dinkheller radioed dispatch for assistance and issued commands for Brannan to cease his behavior and approach the cruiser.  When Brannan saw that the deputy was calling for other units, he ran toward the deputy in an aggressive manner.

Dinkheller retreated while issuing commands, using his baton to keep Brannan at bay.  On Dinkheller’s dashcam video, Brannan was heard shouting that he was a “Vietnam combat veteran.”  Both Dinkheller and Brannan were heard saying, “I’m in fear for my life.”

Despite Dinkheller’s commands, Brannan walked back to his pickup truck and withdrew an M1 carbine from underneath the driver’s seat, taking cover near the driver side door.

Dinkheller positioned himself near the passenger door of his cruiser and gave Brannan commands for approximately forty seconds.  Brannan stepped away from his pickup truck and pointed his M1 carbine at Dinkheller.

Dinkheller fired a shot at Brannan.  After the first shot, Brannan returned fire and a barrage of gunfire was heard.  Dinkheller did not strike the suspect and was forced to reload.

At this point, Brannan ran from his pickup truck toward the deputy and began to fire, hitting Dinkheller in the exposed areas of the arms and legs.

Brannan then began to reload his weapon.  Dinkheller, injured, tried to position himself near the driver side door of his cruiser.  Another shot from Dinkheller was heard.  Brannan began advancing and firing at the deputy, hitting him numerous times.  Before being disabled from gunfire, Dinkheller was able to inflict a gunshot wound to the stomach of Brannan.

After being struck and clutching his stomach, Brannan then raised his M1 carbine and fired two more shots with one striking Dinkheller in the head, killing him.

Brannan retreated into his pickup and fled the scene.  He was discovered the next morning by police hiding in a sleeping bag beneath a camouflage tarp in Laurens County, Georgia, and arrested for the murder.

Brannan pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but the jury found that the murder of Dinkheller was carried out in a torturous and cruel manner. 

Brannan was found guilty of the murder nearly two years later and is awaiting the death penalty.  
Currently 66-years-old, he is still incarcerated in Georgia, has not been executed, and is appealing
his conviction.

When asked why he killed the deputy, Brannan responded, “Because he let me.”

The original dashcam video of Dinkheller’s cold blooded murder is used throughout United States police academies as a training aid.  Some students have had to leave the room after viewing it.

Dinkheller was only 22-years-old at the time of his death.  Survived by his wife, daughter, and son, he was named Deputy Sheriff of the Year by the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association.

Appreciation goes out to Gun Safety Blog, Vimeo, and Castel.

* * * * * * * * *

This Independence Day, remember those that have gone before you; those who are not with us and unable to celebrate the life and liberties, protections and rights, that we have today.

Murderer’s Remains Found in Petrolia

*VIDEO*

Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

From the Times-Standard news this morning:

The hunt for Shane Miller is over.

The Humboldt County’s Coroner’s Office confirmed Sunday the human remains recovered near Petrolia on Friday night belong to Humboldt County native Shane Miller, who was wanted in connection with the shooting deaths of his wife and two young daughters. 

A loaded handgun was found near his remains.

Miller, 45, was the subject of a massive manhunt in the Mattole Valley last May.

Authorities say he gunned down his wife Sandy and daughters Shelby Miller, 8, and Shasta Miller, 4, in their Shingletown home in Shasta County on May 7, 2013, before fleeing 200 miles to the Humboldt County, where he abandoned his truck and the family dog.

“Using dental records the remains have been positively identified as Shane Franklin Miller, age 46 of Shingletown, California,” a release from the office states.  ”Additional examination of Mr. Miller’s remains will be conducted this week.”…

An excerpt, the full Times-Standard article is here.

From NBC News:

Humboldt County and the rest of California’s “Lost Coast,” where the green mountains of the King Range plunge down to the sea, is the most undeveloped section of the state’s shoreline.  Its dense forests have few roads, towns or people and are little known to outsiders.

But Miller knew the area.

He grew up in Humboldt County, and was a sometime participant in one of the area’s major industries — growing marijuana.  He was convicted of felony cultivation in 1996.  He also racked up arrests for a hit and run, DUI, money laundering, marijuana cultivation, and illegal possession of a machine gun, before spending nearly four years in federal prison on a gun charge.  He was released in 2007.

People who knew Miller told local media that he had survival skills.  The Marshals described him as an “avid outdoorsman,” and the affidavit described him as “a survivalist, who frequently uses cash for purchases.”

A day after the killings, Miller’s truck was found in a remote area near the tiny town of Petrolia, California, less than five miles from the Pacific.  A week later, hikers found Miller’s dog wandering along the Lost Coast Trail, which winds through the redwoods and Douglas firs high above the ocean.  Hundreds of law enforcement personnel combed through the rugged area in an extensive manhunt for Miller.

In June, authorities found a homemade underground fortress on property that Miller owned.  An elaborate, prefabricated bunker was buried on one of the properties, with vent pipes hidden by wood and other debris, according to the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office.  Inside, investigators say, was an arsenal of rifles, shotguns and handguns — but no sign of Shane Miller.

Late Friday night, someone anonymously reported possible human remains on the banks of the Mattole River in Petrolia.

Once authorities had confirmed the remains were human, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office contacted the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office, “as the body’s location was within an area where Shane Miller had previously fled from law enforcement.”

On Saturday, according to a press release from the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office, law enforcement officers from both counties and the Department of Justice collected the remains and other evidence from the scene.  

The remains were positively identified on Sunday through dental records as Shane Miller’s.

The Shasta County Sheriff’s Office didn’t say how long the body had been at the site or how Miller died, but announced plans for a press conference about the find at a later date due to personnel currently being assigned to several large fires within Shasta County.

* * * * * * * *

~Via Times-Standard, Google News/NBC/CNN,
Lost Coast Interpretive Association

Last Year British Cops Fired Their Guns 3 Times

–No One Died–

**VIDEO**

Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

America has a love affair with their guns.

In 2012, 409 people were shot and killed by American police in what were termed justifiable shootings.

In that same year, British police officers fired their weapons just once.  No one was killed.

In 2013, British police officers fired their weapons all of three times.  No one died.

According to The Economist, “British citizens are around 100 times less likely to be shot by a police officer than Americans.  Between 2010 and 2014, the police force of one small American city — Albuquerque in New Mexico — shot and killed 23 civilians;  seven times more than the number of Brits killed by all of England and Wales’s 43 forces during the same period.

The Economist argues that the reason for this disparity is actually quite simple: guns are comparatively rare in the UK.

Most cops don’t carry them and criminals rarely have access to them.  The last time a British officer was killed by a gun was in 2012.  In the US last year, 30 police officers were shot and killed in the line of duty.

In December, The World reported on Icelanders grieving after their police force killed a man — for the first time in the country’s history as a republic.

~Via PRI, Joe Callandar and Vimeo

Protesting the Nation’s Killings by Cops

**VIDEO**

Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

The fallout is tremendous.

For the third night in a row, demonstrators spilled into the streets in cities across the country to protest police officers killing black men.

In New York, where a grand jury declined to bring charges against New York police officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Eric Garner on Wednesday, several hundred protesters staged a “die in” Friday night in an Apple store on Fifth Avenue and in Macy’s at Herald Square, according to the Associated Press.  

Several hours later, protesters blocked FDR Drive, a heavily-trafficked thoroughfare that traces the eastern edge of Manhattan, according to Reuters.

At each location, protesters carried signs and filled the streets with chants of “Black lives matter” and “I can’t breathe.”

Though the protests were largely peaceful, authorities said, there were 20 arrests between 9 p.m. and midnight, according to Newsday.  That number was a sharp decrease from a night earlier, when more than 200 protesters were arrested after they brought traffic on the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges to a standstill, according to the New York Daily News.

“This is the largest store in America, and it’s the perfect place to drive home the message:  Black lives matter,” Harris Agbor, a 25-year-old Harlem resident protesting in the Apple store, told the paper.  “Everyone is energized.  It’s electric.”

Similar protests took place in cities around the country, including Denver, Miami, Chicago, New Orleans and Washington.

Among the most vigorous demonstrations were those that unfolded in Oakland on Friday night, where a crowd of protesters blocked Interstate 880.  Demonstrators also shut down a BART  station, staged a “die-in” that shut down surface transit and “roughed up a store owner,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

“I was just trying to protect my business and they tried to beat the shit out of me,” Edwin Cabrillo, a downtown worker who tried to stop protesters from smashing several storefront windows, told the paper.  “We put all our money, all our lives into these businesses.  I understand what you are protesting — what happened to those people was wrong — but what’s happening to us, that’s fucked up. … And you wonder why Oakland doesn’t prosper.”

Protests have escalated in the days following a Staten Island grand jury’s decision on Wednesday not to indict New York police officer Daniel Pantaleo for the death of Eric Garner.  

That decision came after a grand jury declined to indict Ferguson, Mo., police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager.  Both decisions sparked calls of injustice and stirred emotions over other officer-involved deaths around the country.

In Florida, demonstrators blocked a bridge connecting Miami to Miami Beach, and in the Denver suburb of Aurora, middle school students staged a walk-out, according to the AP.

“It makes us kids feel unsafe, that we’re outsiders, enemies of society,” Bennie Mahonda, an eighth-grader who is black, told the AP.

“They are completely glossing over the fact that these people are criminals,” Ed Queens said in disbelief. 

“If they had complied with the law, they wouldn’t be dead.  They never, ever talk about all the white cops that are shooting white kids,” Queens said.  Have you even heard of Christopher Roupe?”

Roupe, 17, was fatally shot by a female officer after she mistook the Wii remote in his hand for a firearm.  A grand jury later determined that the officer did not use authorized force when she shot the teen.

“Nobody’s willing to say it yet.  But after Ferguson, and especially after the Eric Garner case that exploded in New York after yet another non-indictment following a minority death-in-custody, the police suddenly have a legitimacy problem in this country,” Rolling Stone declared after reporting eleven racially-oriented killings by law enforcement.

“Law-enforcement resources are now distributed so unevenly, and justice is being administered with such brazen inconsistency, that people everywhere are going to start questioning the basic political authority of law enforcement. And when they do, it’s going to create problems that will make the post-Ferguson unrest seem minor.”

~Via Google News, PBS, Washington Post, Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle, and Rolling Stone

Crime, Humboldt, and New York City: 1981

Award-Winning Short Film

Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

NYC, 1981 is Austin Peters’ captivating six minute documentary
about a particularly dark and intense period in New York City.

A companion piece for the drama A Most Violent Year currently in theaters, Peters relates the dark truth about 1981, the year in which the film is set. 

We can only wonder if Humboldt County and Eureka could ever get so bad as 1981’s Gotham, given the crime we’re witnessing everyday on the streets and in the pages of the Times-Standard. 

Murders, robberies, physical assaults, criminals and drugs seem to be a daily occurrence here, running amok in our Fair City while no one seems to give a damn—from Supervisors to Councilmen, police to prosecutors, welfare workers to probation officers. 

We shovel more money into their burgeoning local budgets with nothing to show for it as a result.  It’s just more of the same crime, day in, day out.  They talk a big line of fiscal woes and promises, but nothing ever really happens for good.  It’s no wonder we have one of the highest per capita crime rates in the state and nation.

Like Eureka, death, assault, burglaries, rape, criminals running rampant, and an influx of drugs made New York City into a living nightmare with more than 2,100 murders in 1981.  That number went steadily into remission, shrinking down to 648 in 2013 after citizens demanded change.

The short film features the people who lived through those heady nitty gritty dirty days, when one could actually be caught dead in Times Square for different reasons.  Or Eureka, for that matter.

If the NYC, 1981 has a gritty ’80s feel, it’s because it was shot on 16mm film and processed at Film Lab, the only company that still developed film stock in New York City.  That company closed its doors for good in December, like many of the shuttered businesses still littering Eureka’s 5th Street.

Speaking in the film are Curtis Sliwa, who spearheaded the Guardian Angels;  Johnnie Mae, an actress who moved to New York from the South;  Dapper Dan, a Harlem street legend and fur salesman;  Penny Arcade (real name Susana Ventura), a fixture in the downtown arts scene; Nick Rosello, a Puerto Rican immigrant and auto body shop owner; and Wayne Walsh, a delivery trucker since he was 18.

NYC made amends after sinking under its own weight into a deep dark dismal abyss.  The Mob is long gone from power; the East Side has seen an arts and business revival; slums and run down areas have been torn down to make way for new development and housing.  The cops and probation officers are doing their jobs.  The Big Apple’s murder rate has dropped 70%, crime is at historic lows, and tourists are flocking back to Times Square.  Gotham’s citizens feel better; proud of their community, their neighborhoods, and the self-made accomplishments to get it done.

Humboldt County should take and learn from NYC’s example. 

Consider it a signpost for our future.  An example that Eureka citizens can and should demand better from our leaders and take back their community, too– especially when the fat-cat bureaucrats, asking for more tax monies without future promise, seem unable and unwilling to do so.

It is up to the people to lead where their “leaders” have failed.

* * * * * * * * * *

For all of those who are striving to make Eureka and Humboldt County a better place to live, thank you.  You know who you are.  And a special shout-out goes out to Charlotte McDonald and Eureka Main Street.

Las Vegas Teen: “I’m Gonna Come Back
 for You and Your Daughter”

**VIDEO**

Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

His mug shot tells it all:  an angry young man arrested on charges of murder and showing no sadness, remorse, regret or shame in his face.

The suspect in what has been described as a Las Vegas road-rage slaying boasted about the shooting and told friends that he emptied several clips from his semi-automatic handgun in the gun battle that killed a Las Vegas mother of four, a police report released Friday says.

Tammy Meyers, 44, was struck by a single bullet to the head on the night of Feb. 12 while in her green Buick Park Avenue outside her home.  She died two days later after being taken off life support.

The suspect was arrested several days later after SWAT teams surrounded his house a block from the Meyers home, in a nice middle-class suburban neighborhood of modest stucco homes with tile roofs about 5 miles west of downtown Las Vegas.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police found two shooting scenes: one near a junior high school and the other in front of the Meyers’ home less than a half mile away.  Six .45 caliber cartridge casings were picked up at the first scene.  There were seven more .45 casings at the site of the killing, one .45 bullet with human blood on it, and three 9mm cartridge casings.

The police report sheds new light on the violent encounter between 19-year-old suspect Erich Milton Nowsch Jr. and victim Tammy Meyers and her 22-year-old son Brandon Meyers last week.  

Police say Nowsch fired many shots at them on two occasions that night — once a few blocks away from their house and again in the cul-de-sac outside the home.

According to the report, Nowsch told the two friends he fired 22 times at a green car after a cat-and-mouse car chase through his neighborhood just a few miles from the famed Las Vegas strip, and knew that he had shot someone when it was over.

The two friends told police that Erich Milton Nowsch had texted one of them after the incident and asked if he could come over.  He said he had important news, one of the witnesses told police.

Nowsch bragged about the shootings to the friends and told them people in a green car were out to get him, saying the altercation began after he saw someone in a green car in a nearby school parking lot waving a gun out the window.  One of the witnesses told investigators that the 19-year-old suspect said he “got those kids.  They were after me, and I got them.”

Nowsch showed the two friends his .45 caliber handgun, some extra magazines and a box with more rounds, the witnesses told police.

The police report does not clarify some nagging questions about the investigation: how it all began, what role road rage played in the altercation, and how the two parties exactly knew one another.

Family members said the altercation began when Tammy Meyers and her teenage daughter exchanged words with another driver on Feb 12.  The mother was apparently giving her daughter a driving lesson in the family’s green Buick Park Avenue.

Daughter Kristal Meyers said she was driving a green 1993 Buick sedan around the adjacent parking lot at the junior high school, getting a driving lesson from her mother, she told police.  Kristal Meyers also took a few loops around the block be-
fore switching seats with her mother.

Tammy Meyers took an indirect route home and as she was on a six-lane road, a silver car pulled up next to them.  Kristal Meyers told police she reached over and honked the horn. The driver of the other car then followed them as the Meyers turned away twice.  The other car roared past them in a bicycle lane and angrily spun around, stopping sideways in front of them.

During the incident, a man got out of the sedan and threatened them by saying:  ”I’m gonna come back for you and your daughter.”   The man was 6-feet tall, the daughter told police.  Nowsch is much shorter.

Police say that after that threat Tammy Meyers drove home.  Fearful of her life, she then dropped the daughter off at home and picked up her son, who brought his 9mm handgun.

When he got to the car, Brandon Meyers told his mother “to come in the house and call the police,” he recounted to investigators. She insisted he come with her– or she was going out alone, the police report says.

The two drove around for a short time before encountering the silver Audi car, the son said.  They followed it and at some point the car stopped and the passenger shot at them.  Brandon Meyers told police he ducked and didn’t return fire at that time.

Tammy Meyers sped home and when she parked in front of the house, which is at the end of a cul-de-sac, Brandon Meyers got out and raced over to his mother. But before he could help her out, the silver car came down the street and the passenger shot at them again.

Brandon Meyers said he fired three times at the driver but didn’t know if he hit anything.  Tammy Meyers, however, was struck in the head by the gunman in the Audi.  Brandon called 911.

Nowsch denied involvement in the shooting when questioned by police, according to the documents.  During questioning he told investigators he was with a friend at a recording studio and wasn’t involved in shooting Meyers.  But the same friend told police that he dropped Nowsch off at a park about 9:30 p.m. and they never went to a studio.

The disclosure that Tammy Meyers had taken a motherly interest in Nowsch following the suicide of his father five years ago provided yet another twist to a case that’s posed more questions than answers.  Meyers, a mother of four who lived a block from Nowsch, had frequently consoled and counseled the young teen and given him food and money, her family said.  Her two sons had gone to high school with Nowsch.

The shooting occurred just days after the fifth anniversary of the suicide of Nowsch’s father.

With the 19-year-old suspect gunman in jail, police focused Friday on finding an accomplice who was with Nowsch.

District Attorney Steve Wolfson said that despite “a lot of twists and turns in the case,” he is confident police have the right man.  He said he expects at least one more arrest in the coming days.

Police remained tight-lipped about their efforts, a day after homicide Capt. Chris Tomaino told reporters that pieces of the puzzle would fit together once the case is turned over to prosecutors.

Tomaino said a sketch that had been circulated early in the investigation was no longer relevant.  Neighbors noticed when the 5-foot-3 Nowsch was taken into custody Thursday that he looked nothing like the 6-foot blond man police and the victim’s family had described earlier.  He was a small kid barely weighing 100 pounds.  It also begs another question:  If the family knew Nowsch– which they denied at the time– why was the sketch taken in the first place?

In addition to his charges, Las Vegas police said Nowsch had also been detained Tuesday for an unrelated warrant that was issued while he was a juvenile.

Nowsch’s Facebook page shows him with his tongue wagging, his hand and arms heavily tattooed, with a ballcap on his head and thick chain around his neck.  He’s holding what appears to be a wad of cash, including at least one $100 bill.  His Instagram profile has the majority of pictures showing him smoking marijuana in its various forms.  His moniker? Mob Life 18.

Nowsch will be arraigned Monday morning at the Clark County Courthouse and faces a growing number of charges, including one count of murder.  

The other charges include one count of attempted murder, three counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and two counts of firing a gun from a car. 

Kathleen Nowsch, the teen’s mother, was disraught and turned away from reporters, refusing to comment on her son’s alleged actions.

Tammy Meyers’ husband, Robert, said that he and others knew about Nowsch before this happened.  He described Nowsch as an “animal.”

“We knew how bad he was,” Robert Meyers told reporters.  

“But we didn’t know it was this bad.  We know this boy.  He knew where I lived.  He was an animal.  He’d gotten to this point, he and his friends.  She (Tammy Meyers) fed him, she gave him money, she he told him to pull his pants up and be a man.”

~Via Google News, MSN, Reuters, CNN, USA Today,
  Fox13, Heavy-com, and Every Joe

Running For Your Life Through the Napa Grapevines

**VIDEO**

Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

It began with the red Adidas gym bag stuffed with $800,000 in cash– coupled with the wine deal gone sour.

A tragic story of an overhyped and failed wine venture here in the heart of Napa Valley, the drama ironically led to the emotional and furious court battles between Robert Dahl, who ran a struggling vineyard, and his chief investor, Emad Tawfilis, who had willingly handed over the gym bag to offer the vintner seed capital.

Their dispute, in a region where money flows like, well, wine, climaxed Monday in the style of a Hollywood movie or a pulp fiction thriller, with a wounded Mr. Tawfilis racing frantically through the grapevines as Mr. Dahl, carrying a silencer-equipped .22-caliber semiautomatic pistol and driving a black sport utility vehicle, methodically pursued and then killed him in sight of onlookers and arriving sheriff’s deputies.

Mr. Dahl, 47, a former Minnesotan with a checkered background of delusional disputes and broken deals, later shot himself to death as officers closed in after a chase up a twisting valley road in Yountville, near the Napa-Sonoma border.

The Napa County sheriff’s office said Wednesday that it was still sorting out Monday’s events.  But Mr. Tawfilis, who had given Mr. Dahl the $800,000 and more to finance another winery that may have been defunct at the time of the investment, had told his lawyer that day that he was meeting Mr. Dahl to examine documents and talk about settling the lawsuit he had filed to recover his losses.

Days before, a judge appeared to have backed Mr. Dahl into a legal corner, ordering a hearing on an 18-count contempt citation for violating court orders not to move or dispose of corporate assets and lying to the court.

“The settlement conference was nothing more than an ambush to kill Emad,” said Lewis Perdue, the publisher of Wine Industry Insight, who is also a mystery writer and a former police-blotter journalist.  He said he had talked to both men and written extensively about their legal dispute.

Mr. Dahl, those who knew him say, came across at first as an ambitious, fast-talking salesman with a wealth of moneymaking ideas and the appearance of financial competence.  

When he arrived in California around 2011 from Minnesota, he left behind a group of investors who so liked his pitch for Duraban International, a company he had founded to produce a mold-killing spray, that they bought the firm.

But they later decided that the product “wasn’t what it was purported to be” and sued Mr. Dahl, Steven J. Lodge, a lawyer for the investors, said in a telephone interview from Anoka, Minn.

That was one of two lawsuits Mr. Lodge said he had filed on behalf of unhappy associates of Mr. Dahl’s.

“He was real good at getting into deals,” making his business partners upset, “and then exiting in a ball of fire,” Mr. Lodge said.  “I considered him kind of pathological.”

Mr. Dahl and Mr. Tawfilis met sometime after Mr. Dahl, who was married and had three children, moved to a San Francisco suburb around 2011.  Mr. Tawfilis, 48, of Los Gatos, worked in the Silicon Valley tech industry, but apparently in finance and accounting rather than software.  A soft-spoken, private man, he was unlike the beefy, quick-tempered Mr. Dahl, according to Steve Burch, a winemaker who worked for Mr. Dahl for two and a half years.  But the two shared one thing, he said:  the dream of having a place in Napa’s glamorous wine industry.

“It’s not about the wine or the work that goes into it,” Mr. Burch said.  “It’s about the lifestyle — drinking wine every night and having great dinners.”

According to court papers, Mr. Dahl said he had the business entree that Mr. Tawfilis sought, a Minnesota business called the Patio Wine Company.  In 2012 and 2013, according to court documents, Mr. Tawfilis lent Mr. Dahl $1.2 million to finance the venture, taking 97.5 percent of the company’s stock and its assets as collateral.  In return, he was to split profits from wine sales that the loan financed.

What he did not know, Mr. Tawfilis claimed in a subsequent lawsuit, was that Mr. Dahl had already dismantled Patio and was siphoning his money into a another winery and a Napa craft beer brewery that was, at one point, said to be losing $100,000 a month.

By early 2012, the court papers state, the two men were at odds over terms of the loan.  But Mr. Tawfilis, undeterred, delivered the balance — at least $800,000 — in a bag the next year.  Mr. Dahl, elated, distributed a picture of the bag to associates.

Michael Calhoun, the husband of a member of the family trust that owns the land, the wine grapes and the structure for Mr. Dahl’s winery, said Mr. Dahl told Mr. Tawfilis he could get better deals on bulk wine purchases if he paid in cash.

“He wanted cash, and Emad met with him with Emad’s accountant,” Mr. Calhoun said.  “He handed Robert $800,000 in cash in a red Adidas bag, and Emad regretted it terribly.”

Mr. Dahl’s winery, Dahl Vineyards, was a small 7-acre leased spread producing 1,500 cases of red and white wine a year.  Dahl’s business found itself in regular trouble with county regulators, bringing in busloads of tourists to tastings over officials’ complaints that he lacked permits.  

Though the venture was little more than a leased renovated barn, his website waxed ecstatic about “the ideal home for his own wine brand that could reflect his commitment, heritage and his entrepreneurial spirit.”

But early last year, Mr. Dahl had fallen behind in loan payments and Mr. Tawfilis, investigating, discovered that Patio Wine no longer existed.  A volley of lawsuits followed, with the sides exchanging charges of fraud, money-laundering and usury, among others.

Mr. Tawfilis, no longer working by that time, “was consumed by this,” his San Francisco lawyer, David Wiseblood, said in an interview.  “This was a lot of money for him.”

Mr. Tawfilis was winning the legal war, Mr. Wiseblood and court documents both indicated.  Mr. Dahl was uncooperative, dodging court orders and making statements that the judge considered deceptive.  But negotiations continued even as the battle raged, and by last week, Mr. Wiseblood stated, the sides had agreed to meet in Napa to discuss a settlement.

That arrangement fell apart on Friday, after Mr. Tawfilis sent representatives to enforce a court order that Mr. Dahl turn over five large metal tanks that were part of the collateral for the loan.  The tanks had disappeared, and Mr. Wiseblood canceled the session.

But on Monday, he said, Mr. Tawfilis told him that he had exchanged text messages with Mr. Dahl, and that they had agreed to meet at the vineyard near Solano Lane and Hoffman Avenue to review Dahl’s records.

 “My advice was, ‘Don’t go to Dahl Vineyards alone — you canceled the meeting for a good reason,’ ” Mr. Wiseblood said.  

But Mr. Tawfilis went anyway.

Mr. Dahl had no documents to examine, however, and at 11:10 a.m. the two men held a brief telephone conference with their lawyers.  “There was no screaming, no profanity,” Mr. Wiseblood said.  “There was no hint of what was to come.”

Mr. Dahl’s lawyer, Kousha Berokim, said in an interview that he never saw a suggestion of violence in his client.  After the 11:10 phone call, he said, he believed that the two parties “were inching toward a number and a settlement.”

“I was hoping for a phone call telling me, ‘We’ve agreed on these terms, draft an agreement so we can sign it,’ ” Mr. Berokim said.  “That phone call did not come in.”

Minutes after the telephone conference, Napa County deputies received a 911 cellphone call from Mr. Tawfilis.  He had been shot, he said, and was running through the vineyard.  Mr. Dahl was in pursuit in his black S.U.V.

As rescuers arrived, Mr. Tawfilis fled onto a street intersection— near busy Hwy 29 running through the heart of the region’s wine country– and collapsed, the deputies said in a statement.  Mr. Dahl got out of the vehicle, walked up to him and calmly shot him again in front of witnesses and deputies, then got back in the S.U.V. and fled.

Mr. Calhoun, the relative of the landowners, depicted Mr. Dahl as desperate.  “Robert Dahl’s whole life was at stake, and it was do or die, and it wasn’t doing,” he said.  “He had a lot of anger toward Emad.  It’s irrational because all Emad did was invest in his company.”

With squad cars and a helicopter in pursuit, Mr. Dahl fled and sped up a heavily forested road and crashed through a private gate.  Deputies surrounded the area and called in a SWAT team, but there was no need. 

The vineyard dispute and subsequent murder, so to speak, had been settled out of court.  Mr. Dahl was found dead in his driver’s seat, due to a single self-inflicted gunshot wound.

~Via the NYT, Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, YouTube

Warning:  Above Video is Graphic in Detail

**VIDEO**

Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

If you haven’t seen the above video, you can’t understand just
how great of a shock it is.

An unarmed black man, stopped for a broken tail-light, is seen running away from a cop.  The cop, officer Michael Slager, aims and fires eight times.  The victim, Walter Scott, falls.

Slager shot the unarmed man in the back and then rushes to cover up the crime.  Slager had called in the shooting as a tussle about a Taser gun.  He calmly went to the body, handcuffed Scott, and then went back for what looked like his Taser, which he planted next to Scott.  He wiped his hands for no apparent reason.

He did all this as Scott lay dying.

It was horrific and much worse.  Scott had run away from the traffic stop, apparently fearing arrest for an old warrant.  There had been a scuffle, according to the man who witnessed the event and caught it all on his cell phone.

Except Slager killed a man and then lied about the shooting.  He apparently tried to plant incriminating evidence.  And you could see how, without the video, he probably would have gotten away with unaccountably and unimaginably shooting an unarmed man eight times in the back.

It wasn’t the only shock.  Some were shocked that the North Charleston mayor and police chief acted so quickly in immediately removing Slager from the force and charging him with murder.

Perhaps that was because Slager has had excessive force complaints in the past and is embroiled in a current lawsuit. 

Two years ago, a man said Slager used his stun gun against him without reason.  

On Friday, another Charleston County man, Justin Wilson, came forward alleging that Slager did the same thing to him during a traffic stop last year.  Wilson’s lawsuit says that when he was pulled over by police Aug. 24, he produced a valid Georgia driver’s license but was placed under arrest for having a suspended South Carolina license.

The suit alleges that Wilson was pulled from his vehicle, forced to the ground and then, although he was cooperating with authorities, Slager shot him with his Taser.  Wilson’s lawyer said he would release a statement next week.

The story in this recent South Carolina shooting didn’t begin or end there, however, because a man who was walking to work saw the scuffle and did what people do.  He pulled out his cell phone and started shooting video.  He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.  And he was scared to death to think what he had in his phone.

Feidin Santana, a Dominican immigrant, would say he thought about erasing the video and leaving town.  He worried that the cops must have seen him.  He was afraid, after watching the shooting, what they might to do him.

“My life has changed in a matter of seconds,” Santana said.  “My family’s afraid what’s going to happen next with me.  I’m afraid, too, of what can happen.  But I guess I feel that what I did is just, you know, look for justice in this case.”

After hearing what Slager had to say about the shooting, Santana took his video to a vigil for Scott and gave it to the family.  The video was released to the press, and, as it was played for the world to see, Slager was charged with murder and Santana was rightly being called a hero.

Days later, the North Charleston police released the dash-cam video
of the traffic stop.  

And the mayor promised that the police would soon be outfitted with body-cams– a policy that, locally here in Humboldt County, Chief Andrew Mills and the Eureka Police Department have been dragging their feet on for some time, especially given our own spate of multiple officer-involved shootings and fatalities over the past several years.

And so Santana would tell the Washington Post that if people see “something bad … happening,” they should reach for their cell phones to record it.  It’s a matter of justice, he said.

As shocking as that can sometimes be.

~Via NYDN, Summit News, SF Gate, IBT, Daily Kos, ABC, YouTube