click to enlarge
County prosecutors have identified the victims of an alleged double murder in Southern Humboldt Aug. 14 as Tiffany Marie Ellebrecht and Jeremy Dieter Kuemmel.
Their alleged killer, 24-year-old Ulisses Rodriguez, who was
arrested in Chico a week after Ellebrecht and Kuemmel’s bodies were
found in a burning vehicle on Briceland Road near Ettersburg Junction, made his first court appearance Friday.
During the brief arraignment, Rodriguez pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder, one felony count of making criminal threats and one count of arson. Prosecutors allege Rodriguez personally used a firearm during the murders and when making the criminal threats. (See the full complaint
here.)
A hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to hold Rodriguez to stand trial has been set for Sept. 6, according to Humboldt County District Attorney Maggie Fleming.
According to their Facebook pages, Kuemmel, 32, lived in Redway and Ellebrecht, 31, lived in Fortuna.