The Yolo County Coroner’s Office is calling the shooting death of a ranch hand in his 50’s, on the Historic Nelson Ranch north of Woodland, self-inflicted.
The body of Wayne Henry King was found with a gunshot wound to the head. Originally, they treated it as a homicide, however by late afternoon, Sheriff Ed Prieto called it suicide.
Sheriff Prieto said on Monday that the bad weather that occurred on Friday night and over the weekend caused problems for investigators.
“It could be footprints, it could be tire tracks,” Prieto said. “When you have this kind of intensive rain… it really impairs the investigation.”
He added that it appeared to be shaping up to be an unusual case. However, the coroner has since determined the cause of death to be self-inflicted.
The owner, however, has lots of questions. She is Brenda Cedarblade, who in 2006 ran for County Board of Supervisors and has since been embroiled in a series of disputes with the county.
The Vanguard spoke to Ms. Cedarblade by phone Monday evening, and she indicated that she could not say much about what happened. She added that while she is somewhat confused about the official explanation, she would not discount the possibility that the wound was self-inflicted.
She indicated that she wanted to look at the reports before making a determination herself, but she also felt that Mr. King was despondent about a series of events and about being included on some anonymous Google blog.
On January 21, 2009, the Vanguard reported that on December 17, 2008, attorney Matt Gonzalez from the San Francisco based law firm of Gonzalez and Leigh, fired off a complaint addressed to Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig, Sheriff Ed Prieto, and Woodland Police Chief Carey Sullivan.
The complaint “expresses concern” with “the Yolo County Sheriff Department’s and the Woodland Police Department’s seeming non-responsiveness to a series of violent threats, acts of violence, burglaries, criminal trespasses, and an overall pattern of harassment (some of which are described below) directed at my clients, and all of which were reported to both the Yolo Sheriff’s Department and the Woodland Police Department.”
The Vanguard was unable to reach Attorney Matt Gonzalez on Monday for further comment.
However, in that complaint he reports that shots were fired on the property on May 25, 2008.
“On May 25, 2008 my clients reported three shots fired from a field north of their property at 41070 County Road 18C, Woodland, 95695,” according to the complaint filed by Matt Gonzalez. “The shots were fired from a high powered rifle onto their property while Ted Wilson and several of his employees were working. Two of the bullets sailed over Mr. Wilson’s head and hit the roof of the horse arena on my clients’ property. After hearing the shots fired and the bullets land, Mr. Wilson located a white pick-up truck and four men in a field northwest of his property. Ms. Cedarblade immediately called the Yolo County Sheriff’s Department for assistance.”
It continued, “Upon arriving, the Deputy Sheriff confronted four men in the same white pick-up truck located by Mr. Wilson. As relayed to my clients from the deputy, the men possessed a high-powered long-range rifle, methamphetamine, and were all residing illegally in the United States. The men told the deputy they were using the gun to ‘shoot squirrels.’ “
According to Mr. Gonzalez at that time, the authorities never followed up on these complaints and never made an arrest, despite the fact that Mr. Wilson and Ms. Cedarblade requested that they file charges against the shooters.
In August of 2009, Ms. Cedarblade wrote a letter to the California Attorney Generals’ Office asking for the complaint to be investigated.
“There is no court action pending,” Ms. Cedarblade wrote to the AG’s Office. “I just want this investigated and stopped and the people behind the criminal activity, threats and property damage held accountable.”
She continued, “Our business as well my family and myself have been under attack for over a year by unknown people and the Sheriff’s Dept and DA are not preventing the criminal activity taking place, as compared to what would be done to protect other citizens in the community compared to me.”
At that time she was unsure of the reason for the attacks but thought it might be related to a CEQA suit filed in 2008 and opposition to a zoning change in the property next door.
She also filed a complaint in April of this year, where once against she stated, “We are also still under an aggressive attack to have our permits pulled for claims from environmental issues etc… at the County Planning Department.”
She wrote, “Our suspicion has always been, and we shared it numerous times with the DA and Sheriff’s offices, that deep pockets hired a group to do this to us.”
Given the nature of these complaints and the fact that she has complained about the lack of attention paid by the Sheriff’s Department, perhaps it would be best if an outside agency came in to confirm the coroner’s findings and assure Ms. Cedarblade and the community that this was indeed a suicide and not an extension of the harassment that Ms. Cedarblade has claimed has occurred for over two years and has appeared to fall on the deaf ears of authorities.
A suicide would neither discount nor confirm the claims of harassment, but a murder would certainly change the nature of the game that we have seen so far.
Regardless, this has gone on long enough, time for the county to turn this case over to a third party and determine what has really occurred.
—David M. Greenwald reporting
Might also want to include more about Brenda’s history, the harassment website that she made against Sup. Rexroad, etc. I’ve saw her go into some seriously hysterical tirades over the Re-Entry Facility proposed in Madison too.
She has a track record of unusual behavior.
[i]”Mr. King was despondent about a series of events and about being included on some anonymous Google blog.”[/i]
What blog, David? Can you provide a link?
Also, Matt Gonzalez said, [i]”four men in the same white pick-up truck … were all residing illegally in the United States.”[/i]
Were they deported upon this incident?
This is another chapter in a sordid tale of outrageous harassment and intimidation by the county, Sup Rexroad, his industrial-property owning buddies, and their political operatives against the Nelson Ranch. It is all designed to force Brenda and Ted from their ranch to facilitate the reconversion of the toxics-laden old Sprckles Sugar plant right next door into a big new cement factory by Clarke Pacific of West Sacramento.
The ranch has been subjected to literally dust storms of toxic spent lime on their property originating from the Spreckles plant to the extent that their cattle get bloody noses and their exposures start wheezing and coughing. Several trips to emergency rooms were recorded by the Nelson Ranch employees during these “white-outs” from the Spreckles plant. And the local Yolo Solano AQMD has consistently refused to impose their own written permit conditions on its removal by slapping on little fines instead of demanding proper mitigation per their own permits (Note: Matt Rexroad is the chair of the YSAQMD).
The ranch’s groundwater has been provably contaminated by an underground plume seeping through their property from the Spreckles site to the extent that it no longer meets drinking water standards and is so salt laden that it is killing all the trees between their property. I did the water analysis myself after spending two days pouring through old records at the Regional Water Quality Control Board in Sac.
They have had numerous instances of vandalism and multiple instances where their padlocks on their gates were cut and their cattle driven out onto county roads. They have been the objects of a scandalous website secretly posted by a political consulting firm closely affliliated with Rexroad whose mantra is to “assign risk” to people who interfer with their clients’ objectives.
This is a tale so filled with criminal activity against Brenda and Ted that it makes the old movie “Chinatown” (with Jack Nicholson) look like a kid’s playground by comparison. I admit that Brenda follows her own drumbeat but nobody should be subjected to the degree of oppresion to which those folks have been exposed. It shows that Yolo Co. injustice surely extends to people who get in the way of the big monied interests every bit as harshly as it does to the Latino community.
I think there is a great story here if the Vanguard has the moxie to follow the money trail through some of the wealthiest people and biggest landowners in Yolo Co – all of which are closely affiliated with Rexroad.
I would be cautious on this story, David. Each thing that Brenda Cedarblade says happened may have occurred, but are probably not connected (and maybe not have happened the way she views it). The story I heard was that the shots fired at their property in 2008 were 4 men that were squirrel hunting a ways away across a field north of the Cedarblade property, out of eye sight of the Cedarblade property and they overshot their targets. With nothing to stop them, the bullets traveled quite a distance. This happens in rural areas. Even I know, city dweller that I am, that it is dangerous to fire guns in open areas because of this. To say that they were trying to shoot Brenda and her husband and part of a conspiracy of intimidation or harassment is just not to be believed. The fact that the men were out of sight, across a field, didn’t flee and were easily located by Mr. Wilson and later a Deputy Sheriff. Yes, they were illegally in the country, which is not unusual for Yolo County. It was reported later that they left the country and couldn’t be located, when Brenda was demanding their arrest (on what charges, it’s uncertain…discharging a firearm maybe?). Brenda then made the accusation that they were spirited out of the country by Matt Rexroad and his friends.
I find it a little sick for her to attach the suicide of her employee to this conspiracy. Is everything really all about Brenda? It is very very sad.
Google her, there’s some very odd stuff. Articles dating back 10 years about conspiracy theories, complaints about flood protection walls and such. Suggestions of either being a hero standing up against pressure, or of being a crazy person with a persecution complex.
I haven’t had direct conversations with her over issues so I really can’t say either way. But I certainly am inclined to believe she’s nuts. Maybe not insane asylum nuts, but DEFINITELY at least tea party nuts. The crap she was spouting at re-entry facility opposition meetings cemented that for me… and that wasn’t even something she really cared about or that directly affected her.
No personal attacks, please.
Not intended that way, sorry. Was trying to point out the huge significance that the personality and background of the folks involved plays in the meaning of this story. It looks quite a bit more serious without that taken into account.
Using a “high powered long range weapon” to hunt squirrels? Really! Such a weapon blows squirrels to bits. How is it known that this accurately describes the type of weapon used? The attorney representing the accuser made no attempt to qualify this description in the formal letter of complaint.
Weapon possessed illegally; by persons who are in this country illegally; who possessed methamphetamine (presumably illegally); caught on site by a law enforcement officer, and no arrest was made. Really? What possible justification could the Sheriff give for what would otherwise appear to be a gross dereliction of duty?
Just a wild thought, but maybe it was not that way at all. Was the Sheriff ever given the opportunity to respond? The accuser was certainly well represented in this account, including a personal interview.
Phil raises some excellent questions.
David, maybe you could get ahold of the report of this incident from the YC Sheriff? My guess is we might find that Matt Gonzalez’s description of what the Sheriff’s deputies discovered is untrue or unsubstantiated. I suspect Gonzalez (who is from SF and represents a very far-left political POV) simply stated what his client told him, not what the deputies found (though the report itself could prove me wrong).
Phil,
“Using a “high powered long range weapon” to hunt squirrels? Really! Such a weapon blows squirrels to bits. How is it known that this accurately describes the type of weapon used?”
Quote from complaint, which can be found within body of this article: “The men told the deputy they were using the gun to ‘shoot squirrels.’ “
I took that to mean they were just screwing around, not shooting for the purpose skinning, gutting, cooking and consuming the squirrels (ie hunting as you suggest).
“who possessed methamphetamine (presumably illegally)”
Presumably?
[i]“who possessed methamphetamine (presumably illegally)” [/i]
[b]Presumably? [/b]
There is legal meth. It is prescribed under the brand name Desoxyn ([url]http://www.drugs.com/pro/desoxyn.html[/url]).
[i]”I took that to mean they were just screwing around, not shooting for the purpose skinning, gutting, cooking and consuming the squirrels (ie hunting as you suggest).”[/i]
Keep in mind that the description of the incident quoted by David Greenwald is not the sheriff’s account. It’s not unbiased. It is the words of Ms. Cedarblade’s activist/attorney ([url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Gonzalez[/url]), who appears to be repeating what she told him.
Just a quick word to the wise; it is not at all uncommon for people to shoot squirrels, both busshtail grey squirrels ,for eating, and Belding ground squirrels for depredation purposes here in Yolo County. There is an ongoing campaign in rural Yolo County to eradicate Beldings because they tunnel in levees and cause millions of dollars in damage annually. It is also not at all uncommon to find individuals in the field shooting firearms in a very unsafe manner.
Those of us trained in hunter safety here in California know that a 22 caliber “high powered rifle”, typically used for small game hunting, shoots a very light projectile at extremely high velocity and can kill a person at one and a half miles distance. I have, on numerous occasions encountered people who are neither licensed to hunt or trained in forearms safety ,out “hunting squirrels” by discharging their weapon up into the tree canopy where they have no control of where the bullet comes down..
These unlicensed, untrained, illegal and irresponsible firearms users are endangering you and me and should never be tolerated by law enforcement. They are also jeopardizing the future legitimate use of firearms by responsible hunters who NEVER take the shot unless they know where their bullet will come to rest. When I am afield in Yolo County, and hear rifle fire, I immediately stop what I am doing and confirm that the source of the noise is, in fact, somebody who is handling their gun in a safe fashion!
Rifkin,
“There is legal meth. It is prescribed under the brand name Desoxyn.”
That’s kinda what I figured PC was referring to. An alternative explanation to the alleged meth possession could be that those men in possession of “meth,” all of whom were said to be residing unlawfully in the US, had legally acquired the prescription drug and provided the deputy with necessary documentation.
“Keep in mind that the description of the incident quoted by David Greenwald is not the sheriff’s account. It’s not unbiased. It is the words of Ms. Cedarblade’s activist/attorney, who appears to be repeating what she told him.”
I’m fully aware of that. I was merely pointing out to PC that at no point in the article was it asserted that the men had been “hunting” for squirrels, which is something PC used as a basis for his first set of questions/points.
Roger,
” I immediately stop what I am doing and confirm that the source of the noise is, in fact, somebody who is handling their gun in a safe fashion!”
I’m no expert, so I apologize in advance if this is a stupid question. How can you know whether or not a gun is being handled in a safe manner by listening after the shot has been fired?
“I was merely pointing out to PC that at no point in the article was it asserted that the men had been “hunting” for squirrels, which is something PC used as a basis for his first set of questions/points.”
What was actually said in the letter, “The men told the deputy they were using the gun to ‘shoot squirrels.'”
The word, “hunting” does not describe what they were doing? What was it then?
Phil,
“The word, ‘hunting’ does not describe what they were doing? What was it then?”
It could be described as “hunting.” However given the context in which you used “hunting,” it sounded as if you thought these men were hunting for the purpose of actually doing something with the creatures afterwards. The basis for my assumption being this comment of yours: “Really! Such a weapon blows squirrels to bits.”
If they were just “shooting squirrels” to…shoot squirrels then what difference does it make whether the caliber of the gun is large or small? If the “fun” is just trying to shoot and kill squirrels, it probably matters little to the “hunter” what condition the kill is in.
IOW, you seemed to be questioning the caliber of the rifle allegedly used in this incident (per Gonzales’ letter) based in part on the fact that someone “hunting” for squirrels using such a high powered weapon would essentially vaporize the kill, ergo no such rifle would be used by these men.
My point: if not “hunting” and just killing/screwing around, it doesn’t matter, so what can you determine from that?
For those among you who are not hunters–I’m not one, but know many–there is a big tradition in Modoc County every year called the Surprise Valley Squirrel Roundup. As the event has been described to me, hundreds of hunters with high powered rifles show up every Spring to fire their guns for hours, blowing away thousands and thousands of ground squirrels as they emerge from their holes.
The idea is not to “hunt” them for their meat or coats. The idea is to destroy a pest. The grain farmers in that region used to fight the squirrel infestations with poisons. However, that approach was killing bald eagles and hawks. So the farmers many years ago turned to hunters, people who just seem to like to shoot any wild animal.
I couldn’t find too much online about this annual festival, but here is an old L.A. Times story ([url]http://articles.latimes.com/2001/apr/22/news/mn-54113[/url]) about this “roundup”.
Matt Gonzales is an attorney, you pay him and he represents you. It doesn’t matter what his views are, what matters is you pay him.
Matt Rexroad spirited the men out of the country? Did they all fit in his Volvo?
Rexroad supports Clark Pacific because they brought lots of good paying jobs to the area. Now you may be correct that Rexroad has not done all he can to clean up the place next door but conspiracy and supporting criminal activity as an accomplice after the fact and by implication somehow tied to this tragic incident, just not credible accusations.
Toad:
Actually Matt Gonzalez doesn’t take just any case, he does have to believe in the case and agree with the merits and the perspective of the case. Moreover, his firm is very highly regarded and very professional.
Justin:
I was trying to provide some background on the ranch which may, stress on the may, have bearing on the current case or it may not. I think I’d written on this matter twice once prior to this incident, but based on the official explanation, I’m more inclined to believe there is something strange going on here and that these allegations may not be meritless. I’m not jumping to conclusions, but at the very least when the sheriff says he’s never seen something done like this before, it bears looking further into, do you not agree?
dmg: Eh, maybe? All I meant to say is that it might be worth noting that Brenda Cedarblade has a history of… interpreting events a little more differently and hostilely than most of the community. And that goes long before this particular incident (http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/content?oid=10092 for one). I think it’s important because it shows where her credibility is.
Justin: I understand the complaints in the community against her. That said this is certainly an odd case and it may be that her history does not mean that she is wrong about everything. I just think the explanation is odd enough that it bears scrutiny. That was my purpose for this article.
Not to stray too far from the tragic suicide/murder thread, but I did want to clarify a couple of firearms questions;
Superflous Man
;I’m no expert, so I apologize in advance if this is a stupid question. How can you know whether or not a gun is being handled in a safe manner by listening after the shot has been fired?
When I am in the field and hear gunfire, I don’t just listen, I stop what I am doing and find out where the sound emanates from. I watch, from a safe distance, the shooters activity and reassure myself that there is not some idiot out there flinging bullets around in an unsafe manner. Then I can go back to what I am doing with a reasonable expectation of not getting shot. Always better safe than sorry. It’s kinda like defensive driving!
Rifkin; “So the farmers many years ago turned to hunters, people who just seem to like to shoot any wild animal”.
I can tell you are not a hunter from the above statement. Just to clarify, hunters are not “people who just like to shoot any wild animal” Hunters are licensed ,firearms safety trained sportsmen and women who practice the traditional act of killing very specific species (controlled very tightly by state laws) for the purpose of feeding themselves and their families.
What you describe taking place in Modoc is depredation killing of a pest species. Ground squirrels attract badgers. Badgers create a burrow that is about a foot in diameter and six feet deep. When a cow steps in that hole, it typically breaks a leg and has to be put down, (a $5000.00 loss to the rancher) Hence, ground squirrels are destroyed by the millions all over the West. It has nothing to do with sport hunting.
By the way Grey Squirrel, which is legally hunted during the fall season only, is excellent eating!
When I lived in MD, our next door neighbor used to hunt and shot a deer every year. He hung the deer carcass on his kids’ swingset for a couple of days, before butchering it. As a neighbor, it was a bit disconcerting to see, to say the least. However, that meat helped feed this family of six through the winter. Many, many folks hunt deer and other animals to supplement their food stores through the winter months.
Meat is costly, and many live on a shoe string. If you get a chance, watch the movie “The Deer Hunter”, starring Robt. DeNiro. It gives you a flavor of what life is like in small coal mining towns in PA. And believe me, deer are pests. My ex-husband totaled my car when he hit a deer that jumped out in front of him while he was driving. Deer have decimated all my mothers plants in her front yard in MD (badgers have been a nuisance too – just got rid of 3 recently). My sister has has lyme disease twice from deer ticks, and her husband caught a terrible case of ensephalitis (which I assume was probably mosquito bourne).
Wild animals appear cute and cuddly from a distance, but can be pests, carry diseases, and generally the wild animal population must be culled or it would overrun their territory bc of the absence of natural predators. Hunters are doing people a favor, believe me…
Sorry, strayed from the subject too, but it was an interesting thread…
The suicide angle just completely puzzles me – I just don’t get it.
Come on. I am now being accused of being involved in a murder?
I don’t possibly have time to do all the things I am accused of doing.
Some of you people are completely crazy. Watch out for that black helo!
Matt Rexroad
662-5184
This has been one of the most entertaining threads in several months! Thanks.
roger: hunters are not “people who just like to shoot any wild animal”
I agree. Unsupervised boys with guns, however, will shoot just about anything, regardless of the caliber of the gun or its actual intended use. In the years I’ve lived on my rural property, bullets have whizzed past me twice. They will shoot up irrigation pipes, signs, mailboxes, and any small moving animal.
It’s been a long time since I was certified as a pest control operator (including vertebrate pest certification), but I think that shooting ground squirrels to control badgers is pointless, though other measures result in secondary kill of badgers and other species. One seminar that I attended showed how the ground squirrel population rebounded 100% within one season after complete eradication from a field. New ones just fill the old burrows. This just sounds like an excuse to go out and shoot things.
The American badger is threatened by habitat conversion to urban and agricultural uses,
farming operations, shooting and trapping, poisoning, and reduction of prey base as a
result of rodent control activities (Williams 1986). Predator control with the usage of
indiscriminate trapping and poisons have caused extensive loss (Ahlborn 2005).
Vehicular accidents (road kill) are also a major cause of badger mortality (USFS 2008).”
— Yolo Natural Heritage Program
So in the context of this thread, it doesn’t really matter what kind of gun they had or what they said they were shooting. They were young men with guns who were shooting things. Lots of them out there, although like roger I don’t call them hunters.
Don Shor: “So in the context of this thread, it doesn’t really matter what kind of gun they had or what they said they were shooting. They were young men with guns who were shooting things. Lots of them out there, although like roger I don’t call them hunters.”
You are absolutely right. I remember a case some years ago (cannot remember the state – it was on the East Coast I believe) where a woman was shot to death in her front yard from a stray bullet from some “hunter”. The supposition was it was no “hunter”, but some hotshot with a gun who was playing at being a “hunter”.
I don’t know if anyone has been watching that stupid frikkin show sara palin’s alaska, but the other day an unusual ocurence happened.. i keep the tv on sometimes for back ground noise, then out of nowwhere, in the middle of another show that i was watching, it changed to her stupid show.
i know that there has been times in wich owners of shows have used computer programs to change chanels in people’s homes in order to manipulate ratings. i know dear old greggy palin has been desperate to prove the discovery’s investment was well worth while..
any ideas on who to contact about possible fraud charges against the palinites???
PS…it’s not sara palin’s alaska..hell this isn’t even her country..i wish her and all the other nazi’s would just get the fuc out and go back to outer space or where ever they came from..
they are destroying this planet and our freedoms.
matt rexroad..if there’s anything you should be accused of, it should be of being complicit with a bunch of right wingnuts that are out to kill, destroy and torture to death all sentient beings.
after looking at how the right wing operates in this country.. i am truly convinced that you have a vendetta against mother nature and are dead set on destroying her and her creations….
the right wingers are clearly not living beings..just money hungry cyborgs..hell bent on making earth a living hell.
perhaps they are the few demons that managed to escape from hell…
Back from vacation.
A few comments.
First, Jim Smith indicated that we ought to accept the coroner’s findings out of respect for the family, the problem is the family is not accepting those findings. I doubt very much that Mr. Smith has spoken to Wayne King’s family, so I find that an odd statement.
Second, and I don’t know what I can or cannot say, there are a lot of questions and problems with the suicide theory. One problem is that according to one investigator they doubt someone would commit suicide in front of their home like that. Inside the home, perhaps. Behind it perhaps, but not in front of it.
Third, there are still questions about the method of death and the improbability of pulling it off.
Fourth, there are still questions about the investigations itself whether it was carried out too quickly and by people lacking experience to draw the conclusions they did.