Body Parts Mystery ~ New Update

The local paper issued an update on the "body parts" case this afternoon.  They finally brought Michael Gold down to Sutter County from the Josephine County jail in Oregon.  Gold was was booked Monday into Sutter County Jail on a murder charge in connection with the body parts that were found in Sutter and Sacramento counties starting in November, last year. 

Arraignment is scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday, June 30th) in Sutter County Superior Court. He is the stepson of the murder victim, Elmer McDonald.  McDonald's wife, Lela Kathryn McDonald is charged only as an accessory to the crime at this time.  Both are being held at this time today in Sutter County Jail on $250,000 bail each.

Investigators seem to believe that the murder happened at Lela and Elmer McDonald's mobile home in West Sacramento.  Elmer's arms, head and a leg were found at or near Beer Can Beach in Sutter County, while his torso was found in the river in Sacramento County.  Law enforcement first encountered Michael Gold near Beer Can Beach back in November, just days before the leg was found. 

I still have a lot of questions about this case and I'm hoping that as time goes on some of them will be answered.  One big question I have right now has to do with jurisdiction.  If Elmer McDonald was murdered by Michael Gold in West Sacramento, wouldn't the murder case be "theirs"?  There are three different counties involved in this case: 

• Yolo County, which is where Elmer McDonald lived and allegedly was murdered.
• Sacramento County, where the torso was found.
• Sutter County, where a leg, two arms and a head was found. 

Can someone explain how they work the jurisdiction thing when a crime is spread around multiple counties?

I'll update again if more information becomes available.


Previous blog posts on the case:
Body Parts on a Beach? Mystery time!
Body Parts ~ Mystery Solved?
Body Parts ~ Mystery Update

News Sources:
Appeal Democrat ~ UPDATE: Body parts suspect booked on murder charge
CBS 13 ~ Sutter Co. Body Parts Suspect Facing Murder Charge

Body Parts ~ Mystery Update

I promised in a comment on yesterday's post that I would update if I found out more information about this case.  Well, this morning's local paper, the Appeal Democrat has more information... Not much, but it's "more".  I also found more information on one of the Sacramento TV stations that are considered "local" for our area.  I'll post links to the articles at the bottom of the post again.  The authorities still haven't said how or even when Mr. McDonald died, nor are they saying whether or not murder charges will be filed.  We're still in a "wait and see" mode on that.  We can guess at the time of Mr. McDonald's death, but guesses aren't going to get the investigators anywhere.  They need the facts and the evidence to back up the facts.

Lela McDonald is in Sutter County Jail, her bail has been set at $250,000. Her arraignment is set for Monday morning.  Ms. McDonald is an unemployed in-home care aide.  Her charges so far are "being an accessory to a felony" and "destruction of evidence". McDonald also allegedly transported methamphetamine, possessed a controlled substance and was under its influence when she was arrested.  I can't find anything stating that she has drug charges against her yet, but who knows, that could be coming in the not too distant future.

Michael Gold, as far as I can tell, is still in the Josephine County Jail in Oregon.  The article in the local paper doesn't say when he'll be brought back to Sutter County. Extradition is "pending", according to one of the articles I read this  morning.

According to an affidavit acquired by News 10, the investigators believe that a reciprocating saw was used to dismember Elmer McDonald's body in the mobile home that he and Lela McDonald shared in West Sacramento.  Back when all the body parts kept turning up down near Beer Can Beach, the deputies who searched the area also found a number of rusty reciprocating saw blades and a four-inch folding knife.  The torso that was discovered separately down-river in Sacramento County on February 26th had eight stab wounds.

Today's articles are saying now that when Michael Gold was stopped for that broken license plate light back in November the deputy noted that Gold was soaking wet and that one of his hands was bloody. It is also noted that the deputy stopped Gold just before midnight on November 15th.  Today's information also says that Gold had no fishing gear in his pick-up truck, so the story of looking for a fishing spot didn't add up.  The presence of the black plastic bags and the rope is still there in the stories...

Somehow, after the body parts began showing up, the investigators again looked at Gold.  They became suspicious when it was discovered that Gold's stepfather hadn't been seen at the mobile home where he and Lela McDonald lived in West Sacramento.  The investigators sought out a relative of Elmer and obtained a DNA sample which led to the identification of the remains.  After identifying the remains, the investigators got a search warrant on April 5th and searched the mobile home on the following day.  The search turned up the blood evidence and also evidence that someone had attempted to cover up the crime.  The landlord of the mobile home told the investigators that Lela McDonald had informed him that she'd replaced some carpet and repainted some walls due to a small fire that she was able to put out by herself.  The other piece of incriminating evidence was also given to the investigators by the landlord.  He said that Elmer McDonald had always paid the rent by check since moving there in 2003.  He said that Lela McDonald had suddenly started paying the rent in November.

The News 10 article states that the investigators are seeking witnesses who might help directly link the pair to McDonald's death.  So if any of my readers are in Sacramento and can give any help to the investigators, please give the Sutter County Sheriff's office a call at 530-822-7307 or leave a tip at www.suttersheriff.org.

Sources:
Appeal Democrat: Woman to be arraigned in Beer Can Beach body parts case
News 10: Cops believe West Sacramento man was butchered in his mobile home

Body Parts ~ Mystery Solved?

Back on April 1st, I put a post up that was about the finding of body parts in and around the local rivers.  (The original blog entry is here: Body Parts on a Beach? Mystery time!)  The body parts  hit the local news headlines again yesterday afternoon.  The investigators have made 2 arrests and have identified the person who all those body parts belonged to.   The victim was 60 year-old Elmer McDonald, formerly of West Sacramento. 
First of all, a bit of a timeline:

• November 22nd: A severed leg in a plastic bag was found in Southern Sutter County.
• December 11th: A report of a body floating in the river, well south of Beer Can Beach was reported. The boat patrol did not find the body.
• February 26th: A torso was found floating in the Sacramento River, near where the Feather River joins the Sacramento River.
• March 13th: Two arms, each in their own plastic bag, were found at a popular Feather River spot called Beer Can Beach.
• March 14th: A head, wrapped in a plastic bag was found at Beer Can Beach.
• April 1st: The Sheriff announced that the leg and the torso had matching DNA.

On with the story now.  Today, the papers are reporting that the Sutter County Sheriff, J. Paul Parker announced that yesterday, Michael Shaine Dwayne Gold, 39, was arrested in Grants Pass, Ore., by Grants Pass police and Sutter County detectives.  Then, a few hours later the wife of Elmer McDonald, Lela Kathryn McDonald, 57, was arrested at her West Sacramento home.  Gold is the son of Lela McDonald and the step-son of the victim.

The sheriff's deputies first came across Gold back on November 15th, when he was seen in the Beer Can Beach area with bloody hands. He told a deputy that he'd fallen while looking for a fishing spot and injured his hands. The deputy observed that Gold had fishing gear, rope and plastic bags in the back of his pick-up truck and questioned him briefly, gave him a warning for broken license plate light and let him go on his way.

The articles give no real details on how they found out that the victim was Mr. McDonald, but the media is saying that the Sheriff's department is saying that they searched McDonald's home earlier this year (No idea when!) and found a large amount of dried blood. The articles also don't say how they figured out that Mr. McDonald was a "missing person", nor do they say what evidence they had to get a search warrant for the home.  Perhaps a tip from a friend of his after his description was broadcast back in April?  They also said that Lela McDonald had not reported her husband missing, so she wasn't the one giving the tip about the identity of all the body parts.  Arrest warrants for the two were issued three weeks ago, and I'm guessing the fact that Mrs. McDonald didn't report her husband missing along with all the blood evidence they found gave good cause for the warrants.

Both McDonald and Gold are charged with destruction of evidence and being an accessory to a felony. Gold also was charged with removal of a body without the authorization of a coroner. Murder charges have not been filed. (Yet?) Lela McDonald was booked into Sutter County Jail. Gold would be transported from Oregon to Yuba City soon. I'm guessing that arraignment dates and bail will be coming shortly.

Mystery solved?  Not for me.  I still have a lot of questions about this case, and I'm hoping that as time goes on the answers will be coming in future articles about it.  How did Elmer McDonald die?  How did his blood get all over his home?  Why did his body get cut up and scattered along the river? Who was Elmer McDonald?

Sources:
Appeal Democrat: Two people arrested in Beer Can Beach body parts case
Channel 13: Mother, Son Arrested In Sutter Co. Body Parts Case
Sacramento Bee: 2 arrests after body parts found by Calif. river
The Medford Mail Tribune: Mom arrested in body parts case; body was her husband's

Body Parts on a Beach? Mystery time!

There's a popular beach on the Feather River in Sutter County called "Beer Can Beach". And the last few months, the beach has gotten a reputation that no place would want. Body parts keep "appearing".

It all started back in November with a fisherman finding a plastic bag that had a human leg in it. The pathologists that looked at the leg determined that the leg had been removed during a "medical procedure". The big question then was "why was the leg found at Beer Can Beach?". According to the news articles I'm reading now, the Sutter County Sheriff, Paul Parker didn't agree with the pathologists, but there wasn't much he could do about it except keep investigating to try and find where the leg had come from. It was sent off for DNA testing.

In mid-December, there were reports of a body floating in the river "well south of Beer Can Beach" but the searchers from the Sheriff's office were unable to locate it.

Jump forward in time to February 26th when a torso was found floating in the Sacramento River, some distance downstream from where the Feather River joins the Sacramento River. The torso was sent off for DNA testing.

Jump forward in time again, to about two weeks ago. More body parts found at Beer Can Beach. This time, two arms were found on March 13th and the following day a head was found, each individually wrapped in their own separate plastic bags. Again, the body parts were sent off for DNA testing.

Then today the authorities announced that the human leg and the torso have matching DNA. The authorities are waiting for the testing to come back on the arms and the head, but it's probably safe to assume that those parts belong to the same unfortunate soul who's leg and torso have already been matched. The only part that's missing is the other leg. It may turn up on another beach or it may stay at the bottom of one of the rivers.

The authorities have no idea yet who the victim is. A partial description of the victim is that he was a white male who had long, grey hair pulled back in a ponytail. He was between 40-60 years old, and had a medium build.

If anyone who happens to be reading here has any idea who this man might be, please contact the Sheriff's Department's detective unit at 822-7307 or leave a tip at www.suttersheriff.org.

Sources:
Appeal Democrat
KCRA 3
CBS 13
Sacramento Bee

Update: Scott Malmstrom (July Dead Body Story)

Yesterday's Appeal Democrat had a "Breaking News" story about the murder of Scott Malmstrom. I mentioned him in two posts a couple months ago. Look here and here for the original posts.

So, yesterday afternoon, the Yuba County Sheriff's Department reported that they have arrested a Marysville man on suspicion of homicide in the case of Scott Malmstrom. If you saw/read my previous posts about the dead man, you'll know that he was a registered sex offender. His body was found in a Linda, CA apartment complex after neighbors reported a foul odor coming from Malmstrom's apartment. Anyway, the fellow they arrested is Todd Allen Cole, a 25 year old man who was already in custody at the Yuba County Jail on an unrelated parole hold.

The Appeal Democrat did a little research and found out that this guy, Cole, was arrested by the Yuba City Police Department back in April on suspicion of violating parole, possessing false identification and vandalism, and was booked into Sutter County Jail. He was listed as a Yuba City resident in that arrest. I haven't seen any mention by the paper nor anyone else that states what the original crime was that he was on parole for. The guy is supposed to be arraigned either sometime today or on Monday. Whenever it is, I hope the paper sends a reporter so they can put more info in their story about the crime and about Cole's history.

What I would like answered is;

• What was the original crime he was on parole for?
• What was the parole violation he was picked up for in April?
• When was he released from the Sutter County Jail?
  
• When was he re-arrested for parole violations by the Yuba County law enforcement agencies?
• What was the parole violation he was picked up for by Yuba County law enforcement agencies?
  

And those questions are just for starters!

Malmstrom's sister, Jennifer, has posted comments here a couple times on the story I did on July 29th. The first time, she was asking for anyone with information to come forward and give the info to the investigators. The second time was to tell me and my readers that Cole had been arrested. Jennifer, you may not believe it, but I had just read the story in the paper and copy/pasted it off to a separate document so I could use the information in it to write this post. I apologize to you for not getting this written yesterday. I also saw your comment at the bottom of the Appeal Democrat article. I wasn't aware until reading your comments how many times Cole allegedly stabbed your brother. 17 stab wounds equals a lot of anger in my opinion. It will be interesting to see how this case proceeds and to find out what kind of evidence they have against Cole.

I have to admit that I don't have much sympathy for the victim in this case. He was a sex offender and had his own victims. I do have sympathy for his family, though. The trial is going to be hard on them and I hope they have the strength to make it through the ordeal.

Source: UPDATE: Man arrested for July slaying in Linda

Local News: Bank Robbery, Dead Body and More

Our local paper has been "interesting" lately. Just this past week, there's been a bank robbery in Yuba City on Wednesday, a decomposing body found in an apartment in the neighboring town of Linda yesterday, a retrial scheduled for a man accused of sexual assaults on a teenage girl, accidents and more... My main gripe about the local paper is that they will put the initial story up on the website (and I'm assuming what hits the actual newspaper is the same as what is on the website), sometimes with very sketchy information. Sometimes there will be a follow-up article giving you a bit more information, then the story evaporates. **Poof** No more information to be found.

Take the bank robbery for instance. On Wednesday afternoon they had a story titled "Suspects in Bank of America robbery caught". The story evolved over the course of the day on the website, since the initial write-up was "Breaking News" and as they got more information from law enforcement, they added to the story which was printed in the newspaper on Thursday. Then on Friday, they gave us another article titled "Yuba City bank suspects linked to more heists?" that gave us, the readers, a bit more information along with the mug shots of the two men who were arrested. Then late Friday night, they gave us an article meant for Saturday's paper titled "Third bank robbery suspect sought" which gave us very little "new" information other than there apparently was a third guy with the other two sometime before, during or after they robbed the bank. I suppose I should give a brief (if possible) description of this bank robbery so you don't have to go clicking on all 3 links unless you really want to. First of all, I'll give you the booking photos of the two that are in custody so far.

	George Saman Emseih, age 20 from Fairfield CA
	Aaron Christopher Watts, age 21 from Oakland CA

Ok, so there's the two that are sitting in the Sutter County Jail at the moment. (The jail website says they on a "no bail" hold right now, so I guess they haven't gone before a judge yet. Oh, the perils of committing a crime and getting caught outside the big cities.. No 24/7 judges here!)

So, Wednesday morning, around 10:30am, these guys from out of town robbed one of the local banks. One of the guys is from Oakland and the other is from Fairfield. (My question is why on earth did they drive all the way to Yuba City to rob a bank here? There are a lot of towns/cities between here and where they are from that have banks!) Anyway, they apparently waved a gun around and grabbed the money (The paper hasn't said how much they stole.) and took off, headed west in a black BMW. For some reason, a sheriff's deputy stopped the robbers about 5 miles west of Yuba City, near the town of Sutter. The deputy got one of the guys in custody, but the other one took off. (I'd love to know why the deputy stopped them.. Was it a traffic stop or did he know that these guys were bank robbers? The paper didn't say.) So, the guy who took off kept heading west (Right past the little town I live in! And I didn't hear a thing! No sirens, no helicopter, no nothing! LOL) with the CHP helicopter tracking him and he was captured about 10 miles north of Colusa, the town to the west of where I live. The distance traveled in this "chase" from the bank in Yuba City to where they picked up the second guy was approximately 40 miles, give or take a couple miles. Now the third article, the one that tells us that they are looking for a third guy (A fellow named Cory Jermon Edwards from Fairfield. He's the older of the three, the paper says he's 27. I checked the jail site and the guy isn't in custody yet. At least not here in Sutter County.), gives us just a wee bit more information. Like the fact that the gun that was used was a semi-automatic and that it had been recovered where they arrested robber #2 and that a K-9 unit from Yuba County assisted in finding the gun. (Ok, that would make at least 5 law enforcement agencies involved. Yuba City Police Department, Sutter County Sheriff's Department, California Highway Patrol, Colusa County Sheriff's Department and Yuba County Sheriff's Department.) This being the weekend, I'm not really expecting to see anything on the paper's website today, but hopefully they'll give more information tomorrow sometime. Or maybe the story will go "**Poof**" like so many others.

~~~

I suppose I should say something about the body that has been found in that apartment over in Linda. The paper is reporting that the man found is/was Scott Malmstrom and the comments below the article say that he is/was a sex offender and hadn't been seen in a few days. A search of California's Megan's Law Web site reveals that a man by that name lives at the Beale Star apartments where the body was found. Click HERE to see his listing on the web site. The paper isn't reporting anything about a cause of death yet, the autopsy won't happen until the weekend is over. There is quite a bit of speculation about the cause of death though. Everything from murder to suicide. Hopefully the reporters at the local paper will follow up on this story.

Just couldn't resist....

UPDATES below....


see more Lolcats and funny pictures

This lolcat was just too cute, I couldn't resist bringing it here....

In the News

There are a couple items in the news that have me shaking my head this morning. One is about Drew Peterson, the ex-cop in the Chicago area who is the only suspect in the disappearance of his wife, Stacey Peterson. Drew's publicist put out a press release saying that Drew is in talks about appearing in a role on an HBO reality show set in a Nevada brothel. Apparently the owner of the brothel originally wanted to get former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich to be on the "reality show", but I guess the former Gov. turned it down. And, since both Drew and Blogo have the same PR guy, the PR guy is pushing Drew at the brothel. I've never seen this "reality show" since I don't have HBO, but I have a hunch that Drew would fit right in. If I did have HBO, I doubt if I'd be interested in watching it. I'd never even heard of the show before reading that press release! lol

The other item that has me shaking my head is in the local newspaper this morning, the Appeal Democrat. The story's title is "Accused poachers bagged" with a sub-title of "Illegal, 'sickening' hunts left 5 wounded deer to die". The titles are bad enough, but check out the article itself:

A Nicolaus man and two juveniles are facing felony animal cruelty charges for wounding deer with .22-caliber guns and leaving the animals to die "a slow and agonizing death," a California Department of Fish and Game official said Tuesday.

Jeremy Lee Harkins, 19, was arrested Monday at a Shasta Street apartment in Yuba City along with an alleged accessory, Kayla Marie Williams, 18. Harkins was being held Tuesday in Sutter County Jail on $20,000 bail.

The illegal hunting, long past the end of deer season, allegedly occurred in early December near Nicolaus. Charges were filed by the Sutter County District Attorney's Office after a lengthy investigation, said Game Warden Nate Stebbins.

Harkins and the juveniles shot at deer from a car with a .22-caliber rifle, and apparently a stolen handgun, using rimfire ammunition that is prohibited for hunting deer, said Stebbins.

Small-caliber weapons and rimfire cartridges, instead of centerfire cartridges, are likely only to wound deer, he said.

In one case, the suspects shot a deer at night. Realizing they had only wounded the animal, they returned the next morning "and brutally tried to finish it off" by stabbing or slitting its throat, said Stebbins, who found the carcass.

Two deer carcasses were found. As many as three other animals were wounded, said Stebbins, who called the shootings "sickening."

The juveniles were cited and released to their parents. They will appear in Sutter County Juvenile Court, he said.

Williams allegedly helped Harkins conceal evidence. A fifth suspect, who allegedly provided the handgun is being sought, said Stebbins.

Besides cruelty to animals, charges against Harkins and the juveniles include shooting from a car, wasting game and receiving known stolen property.

The suspects had plastic bags in their car and supposedly planned to salvage meat from the deer with the slashed throat, Stebbins said.

After word of what the suspects were doing got around the small town of Nicolaus, a number of witnesses were found during the "complex" investigation, said Stebbins.

The story is bad enough, but the comments on the article are something else. Apparently the mom of one of the "kids" arrested has been on the paper's site "defending" her daughter. Here is her first comment:

NotJudgeorJury wrote:

You people that have already "Convicted" my daughter and her boyfriend for what this article says, need to slow down and make an effort to find out what the TRUTH is. Does the TRUTH matter to any of you, or are you so excited to be able to have someone to talk about and make judgements when Im sure none or almost none of you are Judges! Thank GOD for that! The two adults mentioned in this article were driver and front seat passenger in the vehicle. The minors in the back of the vehicle are the one(s) that shot the deer! When the adults heard shots they thought they were being shot at and FLED the scene. They did not realize until the GAME WARDEN came that a deer had been shot. They were not involved at all with the next day actions of the minors after the fact! So you people need to get a life and stop judging because I am sure that if it was one of your children written about in the paper you would be outraged when the ignorant people make their ignorant comments about something that they don't even know SH** about!

Uhm... Ok, "Mom"... They didn't realize a deer had been shot? Excuse me, but in the article above, it states that 5 deer had been shot.. On different occasions! I guess she has no feelings for the deer that were wounded during these kid's quest for "fun". For crying out loud, the one deer was shot and wounded at night, then left to suffer until the next morning when the idiot kids went back out there to "end it's suffering"!

The other folks commenting on that article didn't take her attack very well as you can imagine so later, "Mom" comes back and fires another shot:

NotJudgeorJury wrote:

To everyone who wishes they were the judges and jury's: I guess being judge and jury of a space where you are allowed to make comments is all you were capable of "aspiring to" in your miserable lives! I never said that they were not guilty of something, Did I??? I absolutely agree that they MUST be guilty of something, otherwise they would not be in this mess to begin with. I am not as ignorant as many of you though, because I am not talking about How I BELEIVE THEY ARE INNOCENT! I don't think that for a minute.... I don't think that they did nothing. I don't believe what they are being charged with, is appropriate! So dont be too disappointed if they just happen to beat these specific charges. I wouldn't be surprised if they are found guilty of something. And my daughter is well aware of taking responsibility for her own actions and living with consequences of choices she has made... And I am sure that she is being charged at all because she is NOT going to tell on anyone involved, even if she has to go down for the entire incident! It doesn't make the story true! So, I guess I would be more than f***ing happy to see any animal killed, because I don't like animals! Does that mean I am guilty of doing such a thing! No. But it really doesn't bother me at all that the animal was killed. So there is something for you hypocritical people to discuss untill your hearts desires! I love it, when I am the center of any conversation! Negative or positive, really doesn't make a difference to me. I am just happy knowing I got under someones skin today!

Oh boy... This woman is something else, isn't she? Yes, she's defending her daughter and I can understand that, but I don't think she's doing it very well. I think she hits the nail on the head when she says "I love it, when I am the center of any conversation!" I'm going to check back with the paper's site later today and see how the "discussion" is going...

I'd be interested to see what my readers here think about the poacher story... And about the comments.... Follow this LINK and see what's being said...

UPDATE:
Thursday AM: I checked on the comments for the poacher/arrest article this morning and I found one more post from the Mom I quoted yesterday. It seems she's backing off her attitude from early yesterday.. She's still defending her daughter, but it appears that she had a little chat with her daughter and the boyfriend and found out that they aren't quite as innocent as she thought.

notjudgeorjury wrote:

To all of the people posting about this article. I stopped reading ALL comments at my last post, so whatever you have to say about these two adults or myself is really falling on deaf ears. I have absolutely no patience for people that are judgemetal when I am sure that each and every one here has broken the law in some way or another, at some time or another committing crime anywhere from taking office supplies at work, to molesting the neighbors kids and/or worse. Any how, they are not the ones being accused, nor are they the ones on trial. After a very lengthy conversation with the two adults here, I have to apologize to all of you for sticking up for them, because it seems there is more truth to the article than I would like to beleive and after they seen the lengths that I am willing to go to protect them, they felt that I needed to be told the truth. I did not have to come here and apologize to you guys, but I am a woman and I cant admit when I am wrong. While there is some truth to the article, there is also circumstances that are not mentioned in the article. I still stand by my daughters innocence, and I will leave my explanations at that!

I also noticed that more than a few posts were "removed" due to violations of the user agreement for the paper's website. Plus a couple of the posters who were there yesterday are completely gone, posts and all... I guess I missed a "lively" discussion over there.. lol

Another UPDATE:
Thursday PM: Another post from the mom of the girl that was arrested left another post this afternoon... She sounds a bit upset, wouldn't you say? The funny thing is that I just finished reading the rest of the comments and didn't see any posts referring to her being in trouble with the law, nor anything referring to "snitches". This lady needs to calm down and talk to her daughter, the boy friend and the other kids that were arrested instead of ranting and raving on the newspaper's website!

notjudgeorjury wrote:
I hear there has been a few assumptions made about me so let me clear that up for you folks! First of all, NO, I have never been in trouble with the law.(Just because we are not snitches, doesn't mean that the entire family is on the other side of the law). We are not snitches, because someone very close to us was a snitch, and guess what? They was killed for snitching, so we won't snitch! We like being alive! Secondly, someone seems to think I sound crazy, because I ramble...Well when I am furious, I ramble. And you are absolutely right about me being crazy, thats how I get when someone is attacking one of my children, regardless of the reason. You might just know how crazy I can be, if I only knew any of you or where any of you live! We would definately being having this discussion face to face.

Or did I read this wrong? She is making threats, isn't she?

Quick Update on Rex Archer

The Appeal Democrat has a "Breaking News" article about the status of Rex Archer's case this morning. Posted at 9:37AM, it states that after watching the taped interviews with the victims in the case, Archer will be held to answer for the charges.

From the article:

Yuba County Superior Court Judge James L. Curry scheduled an arraignment hearing at 9 a.m. July 14 for Archer, who is accused of molesting female foster children under 10 who are not related to Archer.

So, July 14th (or shortly thereafter) is the next date to watch for.

More Fires, Weather and Everything Else.

Wow.. It's been a week since my brother or I posted. This week has been so hot that I just haven't sat in here at my computer a whole lot. And when I have been at the computer, I'm semi brain dead! lol... No, not really. I got sidetracked a bit watching some of the Neil Entwistle trial among other things.

First of all I'll start the "news" with an article in the Appeal Democrat (the local newspaper) about Rex Archer. The preliminary hearing for the case was supposed to have happened last Wednesday the 18th, but was postponed again at the request of the defense attorney. The new hearing is supposed to happen this coming Wednesday, June 26th now. We shall see, I guess.

I got a bit of information about Mario Lozano's location from a couple of sources. He was apparently transferred from the El Dorado County Jail to Deuel Vocational Institution (DVI) at Tracy. My sources tell me he could be there anywhere from a few weeks to a few months depending on how long his processing takes. They'll be looking at his entire history; medical, psychological, criminal, his life and everything about him before deciding where to house him next. Kacie's family and friend as well as the other people this man victimized are hopefully resting much easier knowing that Mario is secure in the hands of the California Corrections Department.

As for the fires I had been following and reporting on, most of them have been 100% contained or extinguished. (Thank goodness!) The Humbolt Fire near Chico, the Whiskey Fire and the Martin Fire are all at 100% contained. The problem the firefighters are having today though are hundreds of new fire starts as result of dry lightning strikes all over the state yesterday. With manpower stretched over all of the fires, it's going to be a mess to clean up! California Fire News had a couple of images up that showed the dry lightning strikes yesterday. Very scary..

The Indians fire is still very active though. It's 59% contained and has burned over 53,000 acres. Fort Hunter Liggett is still somewhat "safe" as the fire is burning more towards the North and East. The fire did manage to get onto the Fort's territory some before turning back on itself and going to the North again. They have determined that the cause of the fire was an "escaped campfire". The Inciweb site has no estimation of control or containment yet.

A new fire, the Wild Fire near Napa is causing evacuations and a lot of fear today. They've lost 1 home so far and over 100 more are threatened. The fire is only 10% contained as of 8am this morning and the acreage scorched is over 1000 acres.

I'm not going to list all of the fires that are going on. There are just too many. If you click on this link to the CalFire Current Incidents page, you'll see what I mean. Or just click on this link to CalFire's Northern California Lightning Series Summary you'll see even more. Between the hot dry weather here in the West, the floods in the Midwest and other "weather events" around the world, the news media is going to be very busy reporting on disasters this summer, I think.

As for me right now, I'm going to go fix some iced tea and perhaps turn my air conditioner on. It's not even 11am and it's getting uncomfortably warm in the house.

Fires and a Local Crime Update

Updates on fires have been posted below.

I drove North to Redding yesterday with my Mom, Stepdad and my brother. The sky was nasty looking because of the fire near Chico, we thought. But, as we drove up the highway, we saw another plume of smoke to the west of the highway. Chico is East of I5! Another fire in the mountains... We took care of our "business in Redding, had dinner and then headed back towards home after having been in Redding for 4 hours or so. The smoke on both sides of the highway was worse. The smoke over towards Chico was thick enough that we couldn't see the mountains at all in the East. The "new" smoke on the West side was thicker and it wasn't just one plume of smoke anymore. It was split into at least 3 columns of smoke!

I checked the CalFire incidents web page to see if they had any new information on the Chico fire and to see if there was anything about those other plumes of smoke off to the West. They had both, and they've named the "new" fire the "Whiskey Fire". So here's the updates on the fires:

Humbolt Fire: It's still going strong apparently. As of 7:30pm last night, the fire was only 20% contained and has burned about 23,000 acres. It's destroyed about 50 homes and damaged a dozen more. 5,600 more homes are still in danger. The town of Paradise has essentially been cut off from the outside world because of the fire and road closures. The fire is still endangering the city of Chico. The Chico news paper has put together a google map of the fire, view it here.

Whiskey Fire: This is the "new" one we saw from the highway yesterday. As of 6pm last night, the fire was 10% contained and had burned over 2,500 acres. No calls for evacuations yet, as the fire is burning in the Mendocino National Forest.

Electra Fire: When I was browsing through the active incidents on the Cal Fire incidents page, I found another "new fire". This one is over in Amador County... This one isn't big, but it's given the firefighters a different problem. All along the foothills over there are high voltage electrical lines. You know, those big towers with the power lines? Well, the fire has damaged some of the lines so power has been shut down for the majority of that county. I do not envy the folks living over there.. With this heat and no electricity, that means no relief from the heat.

Indians Fire: From what I can get out of the update sites for the forestry, the fire has changed directions and is no longer headed towards Fort Hunter Liggett. As of 8pm last night it is 36% contained and has charred almost 24,000 acres. It's also destroyed one home and it's threatening 660 more. They've also determined that the cause is "human, under investigation". So someone set it.. Whether intentionally or accidentally, we don't know yet.

Martin Fire: Firefighters seem to be fairly successful with this one. As of 7:25pm last night it was 65% contained and has burned less than 1,000 acres. They have lost 10 homes though, and more are still threatened.


At least the winds have calmed. No North winds yesterday and so far none today either. That should help the firefighters get a handle on all the blazes. There is a lot of smoke in the air as you can see from the photo above. I took it about 7am this morning, the sky is an ugly brownish color and the sun can barely shine through... I'm typing this at about 8am and the sun still isn't really shining..

On to other news; The local paper has an article about Rex Archer and the hearing that happened on Thursday. It was posted as "breaking news" last night, but the full article is in today's paper:
Archer ruling expected Wednesday

What it boils down to is that the judge will watch the recorded interviews with two alleged victims before ruling this coming Wednesday whether Earnest Rex Archer will be held to answer on seven child molestation charges. Archer was in court for the preliminary hearing Thursday morning.

I'll be watching the paper this coming week to see what the judge has to say after he's watched the interviews of the two girls.

Fire Updates @ 9:30am:
I just checked the CalFire website for the current incidents and it's reporting that the Electra Fire has been 100% contained. Great news!

The other fires still have a ways to go though. The Humbolt Fire is 35% contained, but they've lost more homes. The count is up to 66 homes lost now. The Whiskey Fire is 15% contained and has charred 3,477 acres as of 6:00am this morning. The Indians Fire is at 38% contained and almost 25,000 acres burned. The Martin Fire is 75% contained this morning and they are reporting that the cause is "human".

Hopefully the winds will stay away again today. It's still calm outside and that helps the firefighters. The sky is still pretty mucky looking, but the sun is managing to shine through it now.

Trial & Crime Watching and Travel

I love traveling, but coming home and trying to catch up on everything that has gone on with the trial and crime watching that I do is sometimes frustrating. Apparently there were a few things happening with the cases that I've been watching during the time I was out and about enjoying the sightseeing and traveling. So, here we go:

• Mario Lozano; I mentioned in my post last night that I'd gotten an email from VINELink that he'd been moved from the El Dorado County Jail. Well, I still don't have any further information on where he's been taken. I'm still working on it and will post his current location when I find out.

• Rex Archer; The local paper, The Appeal Democrat had a little blurb in their "Mid-Valley Briefs" section that says the preliminary hearing had been postponed. Here's what the paper said:

Archer hearing postponed

A preliminary hearing for Earnest Rex Archer, a former Yuba County Board of Supervisors candidate charged with child molestation, was postponed Friday until June 12.

Unavailability of witnesses caused the continuation, according to the Yuba County District Attorney's Office.

Archer has repeatedly failed to respond to requests for comment on the case and answered an e-mail Friday with a "no comment."

• Drew Peterson; Drew's lawyer, Joel Brodsky is working hard trying to get the weapons charges stemming from that "too short" automatic weapon that Drew had dismissed. They filed motions yesterday for the dismissal of charges and the state has 14 days to respond. The preliminary hearing for the charges has been set for June 30th. The lawyers are also trying to get the judge to modify Drew's bond so that he can travel outside Illinois while he's out on bond from the weapons charges. Ok.. I have to wonder where Drew is planning on traveling.....
  
  The Grand Jury heard testimony this week from Stacy's aunt, Candace Aiken and from the 22 year old tanning salon girl, Kimberly Matuska, that Drew has apparently been "wooing". Neither one of them would talk about what they said before the Grand Jury, of course. I can understand them calling the aunt, because she knew both Stacy and Drew before Stacy disappeared and can testify to what she knew of both Stacy and Drew and their relationship. But this 22 year old "girlfriend" of Drew's? What can she testify to? How "sweet" Drew's been to her? Oh.. Yeah.. She did admit that Drew gave her a cell phone and showed it to the investigators. Of course the cell phone has GPS on it, I suppose so Drew can find out where his new girlfriend is whenever he wants. The girl was quoted in one article claiming that "at one point he (Drew) told her he loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her". Geez... I think this girl has had her 15 minutes of fame now and can go back to her tanning salon.
  
  Oh yeah, there was also a news item about the investigators taking the bathtub that Kathleen Savio died in. They're saying that it's a "key piece" of evidence. Lets see, Kathleen died in that bathtub more than 4 years ago now I think. I doubt if there is any real evidence left in it. No blood, no DNA or anything else that can be proven to be part of her death. The only thing I can see for speculations sake is that it would be good for demonstrative purposes during a trial for her murder.
  

• Cesar Laurean; He's still in Mexico awaiting extradition, but law enforcement have released a lot of court documents relating to the murder of Maria Lauterbach. Go here and check out the list of documents. One news site details some phone calls and such from the Laurean home the day he took off for Mexico. Another one writes about how Cesar was researching things in Mexico before he left. Things like buying property and finding jobs in Mexico. I couldn't find anything in the articles about how the extradition process is going, so we wait.

• Les hauts de la Garenne; I haven't followed this one in the news, but have been following it with the posts by Donchais on Sprocket's blog, Trials & Tribulations. From what Donchais posted while I was gone, there's been an arrest, more bones and teeth found along with other things in the excavations of the cellars. Kudos to Donchais for providing excellent coverage of the Jersey Abuse scandal.

I'm sure there are more news items that I've missed posting about here (or even reading about!) but I do need to get busy and get my stuff unpacked, clothes into the washer and spend some "quality" time with the 2 felines I share my home with. They are most insistent that I not be out of their sight right now. lol... So, I'll leave you all for now with a funny picture.....


more cat pictures

More Wind.... Ugh!

Today is Day 3 of north winds. The weatherman said that we wouldn't have as much wind today, it was supposedly going to die down last night. I wish he'd told the wind that it wasn't supposed to blow today! As I look out my window here, the trees are bending and blowing in the wind pretty much the same as they did for the last 2 days. The strange part of it is that the wind is blowing a lot here in the valley, drying out the plants, making people miserable with their allergies and all, but up in the mountains the weather is very different. I got a call from my trucker friend and he reported that it was snowing up in Truckee! Yep! Snow! According to the weather websites some of that snow is actually supposed to stick to the ground.. Weird.

I keep checking the El Dorado County Sheriff's website where they show the inmates, and according to that page, Mario Lozano is still there. I've signed up on another website to receive an email when he is moved or his status changes. I haven't heard from them yet, so apparently Mario is still sitting in the El Dorado County Jail. I would have thought the state would have picked him up by now.

Other trial/crime news has been sort of interesting the last couple of days. Drew Peterson got arrested for a weapons violation, and Stacy is still missing. Phil Spector's date for the 2nd go around of his murder trial has been set for September 29th. And I finally found some "references" to the Rex Archer thing.. Sort of. Apparently there were Federal search warrants served on a local doctor who is running for a political office and the comments section of the local newspaper became quite a debate with Rex airing his dissatisfaction with the local paper and airing some of his legal woes (pertaining to his arrest a while back on child molestation charges.).

Postings here are going to be somewhat sporadic over the next week or so because I'm not going to be as close to my computer as usual. (I wish I had a laptop in addition to the desktop I have! lol) This weekend I'm going to be going back and forth from my house to my daughter's house because I'm "watching" the kids (2 teens and a 4 year old!) while my daughter and her husband "get away" for a couple of days by themselves. Then next week, I am going to be the driver for my Mom and Stepdad on a trip down the coast. But after the trip south, I should have some good photos to post (for those who are interested! lol)

Murderer indicted as 'I-5 Strangler'

Roger Reece Kibbe, dubbed by authorities as the "I-5 Strangler," was arraigned Friday in San Joaquin County on six new counts of murder, including two Sacramento women. Kibbe was convicted in 1991 of strangling a 17-year-old West Sacramento prostitute and leaving her nude body at Echo Summit. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the 1987 slaying.

read more | digg story

There are a lot of stories about this guy available online. Just google his name, or the "I-5 Strangler" name he was given. One of the articles I read said that he would be eligible for parole in 2 years after serving time for that first conviction. It looks like law enforcement are going to ensure that he will stay in prison for the rest of his life. Also according to a few of the articles I read this morning, he is the primary suspect in a total of 20 murders...

Back when I first moved to Northern California in 1981, the murders and the bodies being found had everyone scared. Including me and my family. Even though we lived an hour or so North of where the disappearances happened, how could we be certain that the murderer wouldn't look North of Sacramento for new victims. We couldn't. When they convicted him in 1991, people breathed a sigh of relief knowing that he was where he needed to be. In prison. The thought that he was close to being eligible for parole is a scary. But this time, he is being charged with 6 murders. He will be eligible for the death penalty. If not the death penalty, he will get life without parole. This man is a serial killer. He can't be let out of prison to hunt victims again. Back then, he prowled the I-5 corridor South of Sacramento looking for victims. He found them. Too many of them. Some were women on their way somewhere and happened to break down alongside the highway. This murderer would stop, befriend them, assault and strangle them, then leave their bodies alongside a highway. They put him away for one murder, but they had evidence for others. Now they will use the evidence to make sure he never gets out of prison.

Local Crimes ~ Update

Well, the day before yesterday bail for Rex Archer was reduced to $100,000, and the former Yuba County supervisor candidate, charged with sexually abusing two girls, could be released from custody by Monday after filing a property bond according to the local paper. (Appeal Democrat) Archer's lawyer, Donald Wahlberg, asked the judge to release him on on his own recognizance. The Probation Department recommended that his bail be reduced from $500,000 to $200,000. I guess the judge decided to split the difference between what the lawyer asked for and what the Probation Department asked for. There are still protective orders in place ordering Mr. Archer not to contact the victims.

The prehearing conference is now set for March 7th. So, for now, Mr. Archer is still in the jail over in Colusa.

Kacie Barron & The Ride For Hope

Kacie Barron, 40, died July 26, 2006, a victim of domestic abuse, allegedly murdered by a man still in custody and awaiting trial, Mario Lozano. Her name, nor the name of her accused murderer haven't been in the news much since her murder. I was googling this morning trying to find out what is happening with the accused murderer. All I can find are old news articles. I found virtually nothing about the actual crime, nor anything at all about Mario Lozano, other than the fact that he is still in custody. I suppose I need to call my brother to see if there has been anything at all happening.

Kacie's name comes up once a year in local news, though. Her brother, Pat Barron organized a motorcycle run in her honor along with many of her friends, including my brother that first year after her death. Kacie's Ride For Hope. The ride was a 140 mile bike ride from Placerville to Fair Play via Highways 88 and 89 through the beautiful Hope Valley to benefit the El Dorado Women's Center. They organized a run again last year and had twice as many participants as the first year. I'm sure there will be a third annual run to honor Kacie and to benefit the Woman's Center in El Dorado County. By the way, about the graphic above? The woman on the bike is Kacie.

I need to call my brother and see if he can give me anymore information. About the status of the POS that is jail awaiting trial for her murder. (By the way, for those who have encouraged me to attend a trial, this is one that I would like to see. For my brother. For Kacie's family. And about the Ride For Hope. I'll update later.

Local Crimes

Yesterday, a discussion occurred between my parents, myself and some other folks about a local man who's been arrested for child molestation. My parents and the other people we were talking to are in shock about the accusations. Now, a little background.... My parents owned a wholesale produce business in this area and had dealt with Mr. Archer (who owned a tire company) for tires for the produce trucks they owned.

The man accused, Rex Archer, is well known in the area, he is a prominent local businessman. He is also a past president of one of the Reclamation Districts, a former Yuba County Sheriff's Department reserve deputy. He was/is a vocal critic of local government's flood protection efforts, challenged Supervisor Dan Logue in the June 2006 election and lost. A year or so before he ran for Supervisor, he announced plans to run for Sheriff, but ended up not running due to questions about his eligibility. Last year, he headed an unsuccessful effort to recall Supervisor Logue.

A quote from the local newspaper, The Appeal Democrat, dated Feb. 8th describes the charges:
"The seven-count complaint, filed Wednesday by Deputy District Attorney Bradley Enos, includes two counts of continuous sexual abuse, three counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14, oral copulation with a child under 14, and penetration by a foreign object of a child under 16." (Archer faces sex charges ~ Appeal Democrat, Feb. 8th, 2008)

Following Mr. Archer's arrest on the 7th, the judge appointed a public defender and scheduled a a Feb. 20 bail hearing and a Feb. 22 preliminary hearing. The judge also issued a criminal protection order against Mr. Archer, prohibiting him from contacting the victims or their families and he must stay at least 100 yards away from their homes. The victims were 8 and 9 year old girls and the assaults occurred over the last 3 years.

Then in an article on Saturday, (Archer moved to Colusa County Jail ~ Appeal Democrat, Feb. 9th, 2008) said that he plead "not guilty" and bail was set at $500,000. But, the main focus of the article is that they had to move him out of the Yuba County jail to another county nearby because of his "previous affiliation" with the Yuba County Sheriff's Department.

I've got a google alert set up so that any new news that happens about Mr. Archer will land in my email box. I am going to follow this one as much as I can. And if I can, I just might pay a visit to the Yuba County courthouse when the time comes.... We'll see...