The United States’ Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court ruling finding Arcata police had probable cause to arrest Kyle Zoellner on suspicion of murdering David Josiah Lawson, rejecting Zoellner’s claim for damages against the city. The unanimous ruling filed Tuesday rejects all five of Zoellner’s legal arguments, upholding the October 2022 […]
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McKinleyville Man Arrested in Arcata Murder Case
This morning, the Arcata Police Department arrested a murder suspect in the 13000 block of Bald Hills Road in Orick. With the Humboldt and Mendocino county sheriff’s department SWAT teams, detectives served an arrest warrant at 6 a.m., according to a press release, and took Gregory Nelson Mattox, 24, of McKinelyville, into custody. Mattox was […]
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Rhode Island Man Sentenced to 25-to-life for Kneeland Murder
A 28-year-old Rhode Island man was sentenced today to serve 25 years to life in state prison for the murder of 28-year-old Emily Lobba in her Kneeland home last year. Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Kaleb Cockrum sentenced Austin M. Medeiros for the first-degree murder today, and added another six years, four months to his […]
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Missing Woman’s Remains Recovered After Defendant Tells Investigators Location in Plea Deal
The body of a 32-year-old woman who has been missing since April of 2021 was recovered earlier this month from a site on the “outskirts of Eureka” after the man who pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter for her death directed investigators to the location as part of a plea agreement, according to the Humboldt County […]
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Fortuna Police Investigating Apparent Murder-Suicide
The Fortuna Police Department is investigating an apparent murder-suicide that left two men dead in a residence on the 2300 block of Newburg Road yesterday afternoon. Police were called to the scene after a “suspected homicide,” with an adult male suspect reportedly armed and barricaded inside the residence, according to a press release. Officers responded […]
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Arrest Made in 2018 Dinsmore Homicide
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office has made an arrest in a 2018 shooting case that left a 47-year-old Trinity County man dead on State Route 36. According to a press release, Matthew Gabriel Susmilch, 38, was arrested Wednesday in the Mendocino County jail, where he is being held on unrelated charges, on suspicion of the […]
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Sheriff Releases Names, Details in Pine Hill Shootings
Editor’s note: Be advised this story contains descriptions of domestic violence that readers may find disturbing. Skip to the bottom for information about local domestic violence services. According to Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal, Russell Albers’ girlfriend had made the decision to leave him and their abusive relationship behind. Speaking to the Journal the day […]
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Double Murder Suspect Arrested after High Speed Chase
Russell Albers, the suspect in a Dec. 27 double-murder in the Pine Hill area of Eureka, was arrested today after a high-speed pursuit, according to the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office. According to a press release, deputies were dispatched to the 1900 block of Pishka Court in McKinleyville after someone saw Albers there. As deputies arrived, […]
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Sentence Handed Down in Bear River Triple Homicide
One year after a newly engaged couple and a 16-year-old girl were shot to death at a home on the Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria Reservation, the now 19 year old who pleaded guilty to their murders was sentenced today to 150 years to life in prison. Judge Timothy Canning handed down the […]
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Chico Man Convicted of Murdering Couple in SoHum
A Chico man was convicted Monday of double murder and other charges in connection with the shooting deaths of a couple at a marijuana farm in Southern Humboldt. “Because he committed multiple murders, a ‘special circumstance’ under California homicide law, Mr. Rodriguez faces a maximum sentence of life without the possibility of parole,” a Humboldt […]
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Yurok Tribes Declares Emergency In Response to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
The Yurok Tribal Council has issued an emergency declaration in response to a large number of local missing persons and attempted human trafficking incidents involving Native women. The declaration also aims to raise awareness of the disproportionate number of the missing and murdered Indigenous women crisis. “Today, we are asking our local, state and federal partners […]
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Man Arrested for Suspected Murder of Missing Woman in Eureka
The Eureka Police Department announced today that 40-year-old Jason Michael Miller has been arrested on suspicion of murder in the suspected death of 32-year-old Kiera Lynn Foley, who was reported missing in June. Foley was last seen in April with her black and brown long-haired Chihuahua and, according to EPD’s Criminal Investigations Section investigation, it […]