MENDOCINO COUNTY, Calif. – A Fort Bragg man who is the suspect in the Aug. 27 murder of a Fort Bragg councilman was charged on Friday with another murder as well as the attempted murder of a third man.
Aaron James Bassler, 35, has been the focus of a weeklong search after the shooting death last weekend of 69-year-old Jere Melo, as Lake County News has reported.
Bassler is believed to be still hiding in rugged forestland between Willits and Fort Bragg.
Reports from the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office and the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office said that Bassler is now being charged with the murder of Matthew Coleman, and for the attempted murder of a witness who was with Melo when he was shot.
Based on evidence collected at both murder scenes, detectives have obtained an arrest warrant for Bassler in connection with the shootings, according to Mendocino County Sheriff's Capt. Kurt Smallcomb.
Coleman, 44, of Albion was found shot to death near Westport on Aug. 11, officials reported.
Smallcomb said both Melo and Coleman were shot and killed while conducting duties related to their forestry management profession.
He said Mendocino County Sheriff's detectives are continuing to collect evidence, speaking with witnesses and conferring with both the California Department of Justice Forensic Laboratory analysts and the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office.
Mendocino County District Attorney David Eyster filed a complaint Friday accusing Bassler of the murders and the attempted murder.
Eyster filed the formal complaint in the Ten Mile Division of Mendocino County Superior Court in Fort Bragg. A declaration in support of an arrest warrant also was submitted to the court.
“I believe there is sufficient evidence to accuse the suspect of both slayings,” said Eyster.
Eyster declined Friday to comment on specific evidence that investigators believe link the Melo and Coleman killings.
“This is not the time,” said Eyster.
Sheriff investigators have been consulting regularly with the District Attorney’s Office, the California Department of Justice and other allied law enforcement agencies.
Mendocino County Sheriff's Office personnel, with the assistance of officers and agents from the Fort Bragg Police Department, Willits Police Department, Ukiah Police Department, Cal Fire, California Department of Justice, California Highway Patrol, California Fish and Game, Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Marshall's Office, United States National Guard and the local timber industry are continuing their search efforts in an attempt to apprehend Bassler.
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