LAKEPORT, Calif. – The man charged with killing his traveling partner at a Humboldt County campground and later dumping the body in Lake County has pleaded not guilty to murder and the other charges in the case.
Mavrick William Fisher, 21, of Elko, Nevada, entered his not guilty plea during a brief court appearance in Lake County Superior Court on Monday morning.
Authorities said that Fisher killed Grant David Whitaker, 25, of Mackinaw, Illinois, with a rock during a confrontation at Richardson Grove State Park in Humboldt County on Aug. 20.
Fisher is charged with murder; assault with a deadly weapon and a special allegation of inflicting great bodily injury; willfully and maliciously removing and keeping possession of the 2011 Chevrolet Impala that Whitaker had been driving; and unlawfully taking the car after the murder.
Fisher and Whitaker, both of them deaf, had reportedly been traveling west together in a 2011 Chevrolet Impala loaned to Whitaker by his grandmother.
District Attorney Susan Krones told Lake County News in a previous interview that they had visited various locations around California as part of a plan to create a deaf farming community.
At some point they had a disagreement and Whitaker informed Fisher that he was going to part ways, authorities said.
After killing Whitaker on the morning of Aug. 20, authorities say Fisher drove Whitaker’s body south in the Chevy Impala to Lake County, where he has acquaintances, disposing of the body at a property in the 7500 block of Scotts Valley Road.
On Aug. 24, Whitaker’s grandmother reported him missing after not hearing from him for several days. The missing person’s report was filed in Tazewell County, Illinois.
On the same day, after receiving information about the Chevy Impala, Lake County Sheriff’s deputies found it at the Clearlake Oaks Dollar General and impounded it.
The sheriff’s office found Whitaker’s body on Aug. 26 at the Scotts Valley Road location during the service of a search warrant.
After the murder, Fisher fled to Mexico. On the day Whitaker’s body was recovered, authorities in Rosarito, Mexico, contacted Fisher, taking him into custody and assisting with returning him to Lake County, where he was booked into the Lake County Jail on Aug. 28.
Krones plans to keep the case in Lake County, citing the jurisdiction California Penal Code section 790 gives Lake County because Whitaker’s body was found here.
On Aug. 30, Fisher made his first appearance for arraignment in Lake County Superior Court before Judge J. David Markham, who ordered him to return on Monday for the entry of plea and a bail hearing.
Bail set, plea entered
In preparation for Fisher’s Monday morning appearance, bailiffs brought into the courtroom a small extendable screen on wheels, which was used to shield Fisher and his attorney from the audience.
During the hearing, which lasted about 10 minutes, some members of the gallery complained about the screen. Judge Markham explained that the screen was necessary to protect Fisher’s communications with his attorney and the sign language interpreter, as their hand signing could be understood if seen by audience members, which is a breach of Fisher’s confidentiality.
Fisher has so far been held in the Lake County Jail without bail. His attorney, Tom Feimer, asked the court to set a bail amount.
“Mr. Fisher has no criminal record prior to this incident that he is charged with,” said Feimer, adding that there is no evidence that there is a substantial likelihood that Fisher’s release would result in great bodily injury to others.
Feimer said $1 million bail is extremely high given Fisher’s stated income – and likely would require a property bond – and he asked for a lesser amount.
However, Feimer also acknowledged that the minimum scheduled bail for the Lake County Superior Court for a murder charge – which is $1 million – is appropriate.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Rachel Abelson, who appeared on behalf of the District Attorney’s Office for the hearing, in turn argued that Fisher had proved he was a flight risk because he previously had fled to Mexico. She asked for him to continue to be held with no bail amount.
Feimer responded that Fisher said he had been on his way back to the United States when he was taken into custody, and that he’s made no other threats of violence to anyone.
Markham said he didn’t find the necessary facts to continue holding Fisher without bail, but said he found Fisher to be an extreme flight risk, with $1 million bail appropriate.
Fisher then, through Feimer, entered the not guilty plea to all of the counts, telling the court through his interpreter that he understood the time limits and agreed to waive them.
Markham concluded the hearing by setting Fisher’s preliminary hearing for 8:15 a.m. Oct. 23 in a department to be assigned ahead of the hearing.
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Not guilty plea entered in killing of Illinois man
- Elizabeth Larson
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