A Eureka man who pleaded guilty to stabbing four strangers — two of them fatally — was sentenced Nov. 1 to serve four life sentences in prison by Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Lawrence Killoran.
According to a press release from the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office, Wesley Lee Starritt, 26, had pleaded guilty to murdering Roger Mitch Clark in May of 2020 and Charles LeVaugh on Dec. 4, 2017, and attempting to murder Bryon Tatum on April 20, 2020, and Ciuleandra Smith on May 13, 2020, in brutal string of seemingly random attacks.
“There are no words,” Killoran said at Starritt’s sentencing, according to the release. “These killings are inexplicable, cowardly, monstrous; and … all I could think was even these adjectives don’t describe it well enough. It doesn’t really capture how truly horrendous these actions were. And, unfortunately, … I find nothing redeeming at this time in the defendant or his character. … So, as I was kind of struggling in deciding what it was that I would say to all of you today, I thought, really, at the end of the day, I would just mention those folks who lost their lives, what excellent community members they were, how greatly they would be missed and … focus on the two men who lost their lives and just being thankful that the defendant was not successful as to Bryon Tatum and Ms. Smith and the attempted murders of those individuals.”
At the sentencing hearing, LeVaugh’s sister, Charlotte LeVaugh-Paul, told the court her brother was a “a good man, he was kind to everyone,” while Clark’s son, Mitchell Clark, described his father as a 50-year member of the Eureka community who gave generously to charities and would buy bicycles for local children in need every year.
“He was a wonderful, generous man who did not deserve to die this way,” Mitchell Clark said, according to the release.
Police alleged that Starritt fatally stabbed LeVaugh, a 56-year-old houseless man, as he slept on the street. Starritt then stabbed Clark, 84, more than 90 times after breaking into his home, according to media reports detailing preliminary hearing testimony.
About a month before Starritt killed Clark, he walked up to Tatum, 43, and began stabbing him, apparently without reason, stopping only when his knife broke. He then reportedly stabbed Smith multiple times in Cooper Gulch after asking her for a cigarette, similarly stopping only when his knife broke, just days before Clark’s killing.
Police said Starritt confessed to the stabbings and also made a variety of erratic statements, including that he was “Lucifer,” and legal proceedings were later suspended when he was deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial. He was also charged with several crimes while in jail, including attacking guards and throwing human excrement “and other bodily fluids” at them. Ultimately, he was deemed restored to competency and legal proceedings resumed. He pleaded guilty to the two murders and two attempted murders in August in a deal that saw prosecutors dismiss some of the enhancements and other counts charged.
The press release from the district attorney’s office praises the work of the Eureka Police Department, as well as the Humboldt County Drug Task Force, in identifying and apprehending Starritt.
“Without the hard work of the detectives, patrol officers, and forensic technicians at the Eureka Police Department, these crimes wouldn’t have been linked together so quickly and a suspect identified and arrested,” the release states, adding that the case was initially prosecuted by District Attorney Stacey Eads and later taken over by Deputy District Attorney Roger Rees. DA Investigator Rick Bise and Victim Advocate Michala Pelran also worked on the case.
Under state law, Starritt will become eligible for parole after serving 25 years.
Thadeus Greenson (he/him) is the Journal’s news editor. Reach him at (707) 442-1400, extension 321, or thad@northcoastjournal.com.
This article appears in ‘Powerful’.
A sick motherfucker who needs to be locked up forever
Free my nigga Wesley