Aaron Bassler, 35, of Fort Bragg, Calif., was shot dead by Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies on Saturday, October 1, 2011. Mendocino County Sheriff's Office photo.

NORTH COAST, Calif. – The five-week search for the man suspected of killing a Fort Bragg City Councilman and a land trust employee in August came to a deadly conclusion on Saturday.

Aaron James Bassler, 35, of Fort Bragg, who had eluded a massive manhunt since the Aug. 27 shooting of Councilman Jere Melo, was shot on Saturday by Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies taking part in the search, according to Mendocino County Sheriff's Capt. Kurt Smallcomb.

Smallcomb said Bassler was spotted as he walked down a logging road.

The Sacramento County team members subsequently shot and killed Bassler, Smallcomb said.

The search for Bassler – who was linked not just to Melo's fatal shooting but to the Aug. 11 murder of Mendocino Land Trust staffer Matthew Coleman – was the largest in Mendocino County history, according to Sheriff Tom Allman.

The search had intensified over the past week, after Bassler fired on a three-member team from the Alameda County Sheriff's Office, as Lake County News has reported.

The confrontation between Bassler and the three-member team occurred in an area near Northspur Road – located 14 miles east of Fort Bragg and 10 miles northwest of Willits – where a series of vacation cabin burglaries had been linked to Bassler, officials reported.

Bassler fired on the team on Thursday shortly before noon in a densely wooded and brushy area, appearing to have flanked the men as he did Melo weeks earlier. Allman said the men returned fire at Bassler, who was about 100 meters away.

He disappeared, only to reappear and open fire again. Allman said the Alameda County team returned a total of 10 shots before Bassler once again vanished into the woods that he has explored since he was a child.

A surveillance camera had captured an image of Bassler at one of the Northspur Road area cabins, holding a high-caliber assault rifle, which Allman released on Monday.

Bassler was believed to have taken a .22 caliber rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun during one of the burglaries.

On Wednesday a California Department of Justice criminalist confirmed that a fingerprint found at the scene of one of the burglaries was Bassler's.

The search has involved multiple state, local and federal agencies, including assistance from the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman said at a Wednesday press conference that Lake County Sheriff Frank Rivero called him after hearing of Bassler's confrontation with the Alameda County team and pledged additional resources.

Lake County Sheriff's Capt. James Bauman reported on Friday that a team of seven Lake County Sheriff’s SWAT members, a sheriff’s K-9 team and two supervisors were deployed to Mendocino County on Thursday to join the search.

Allman had said that the search for Bassler would not conclude without a resolution.

The operation had stretched Mendocino County's resources, with Allman reporting that the search had cost nearly $300,000. It had been aided by donations of hotel rooms, food and supplies from community members and businesses.

It also took its toll on agency members like Smallcomb, who has been an active part of the search around the clock for more than a month.

On Saturday evening Smallcomb said he was in emotional shock in the wake of the day's developments.

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Desiree Kirby, 22, appeared as the day's first witness on Friday, the third day in the preliminary hearing for Orlando Lopez, Paul Braden and Kevin Stone.

The three men are charged with murder for the death of Kirby's 4-year-old son, Skyler Rapp, as well as attempted murder, mayhem, assault with a deadly weapon and special allegations for the late night shooting that wounded Kirby; her boyfriend, Ross Sparks; his younger brother, Andrew Sparks; and friends Ian Griffith and Joseph Armijo.

Along with Kirby, Andrew Sparks and Ian Griffith would both offer testimony during the Friday session in Judge Stephen Hedstrom's Clearlake courtroom.

While the three men have not been charged with gang membership, testimony thus far has suggested that Stone was a Sureño, and District Attorney Don Anderson brought a concern to the court at the end of the day that the men – who have been seated separately in the courtroom's jury box, wearing jail uniforms and unshackled – were flashing gang signals at audience members.

When Kirby made her way to the stand, the injuries she suffered on the night of June 18 were evident. She had long surgical scars on her right arm, and the injuries to her right leg – which, like her arm, had been riddled with shotgun pellets – caused her to walk slowly, with a pronounced limp.

During testimony, Anderson would ask her to explain the extent of her injuries, which included loss of feeling in some of the fingers on her right hand and the need to reconstruct her entire arm due to her elbow being destroyed.

She's not yet received physical therapy due to issues including metal plates that are starting to work out of her right arm. Kirby said she won't be able to lift her arm sideways, which will hamper her from doing basics like fixing her own hair.

On her right leg, she suffered an estimated 25 wounds. She said none of the shot exited, and doctors had to cut open her leg, pull back the skin and remove the shot and repair damage to her artery. After getting out of the hospital in July, she spent the first month in a wheelchair.

She needs three additional surgeries on her arm and one on her leg, can't walk like she used to and she tires easily. Her injuries and longterm physical damage have made it difficult to care for her 1-year-old daughter, and she can no longer work.

In just over an hour the tearful young woman would describe how, late on June 18, while friends and family were gathered in the yard of the apartment on Lakeshore Drive she shared with Sparks and her two small children, gunfire erupted from the area of a fence separating the apartment's yard from the residence of Curtis Eeds.

She said she went to school with Lopez but did not know him; she knew of Braden – who had grown up with her boyfriend – and didn't know Stone.

On June 9 Leonardo Lopez, Orlando Lopez's brother, allegedly hit Josh Gamble, Ross and Andrew Sparks' cousin, in the face with a pipe or bar during a fight outside the adult school graduation in Lower Lake.

Kirby said she found out about it afterward, and while visiting Walmart with Gamble's sister, Amanda, about a week later, Amanda Gamble pointed out to her Leonardo Lopez. Amanda Gamble and Leonardo Lopez had dated several years before.

“I walked up to him and I said, 'Did you hit my cousin in the face with a bar?' I repeated it a couple of times,” said Kirby.

She said she was getting angrier with him, and although he didn't respond angrily at first, they began to argue and he denied the assault. Kirby said she left Walmart, but no threats were made and she wasn't afraid as a result of the confrontation.

On June 18, she had the day off and the party with friends at the Lakeshore Drive apartment “was kind of a last minute thing.”

She received a phone call at about 6 p.m. from someone who identified himself at Orlando Lopez – testimony that resulted in frequent objections by the defense – with the subject “just screaming, threatening stuff,” and telling her that he was going to come and beat up her family.

Even then, though, she wasn't worried, figuring the person was just “talking crap.” And no one showed up during the evening, as she continued hanging out, and drinking beer and doing shots with friends.

That afternoon she had been with Ross Sparks when he received threatening text messages and calls which, in his testimony earlier in the week, he indicated were from Orlando Lopez. Sparks said the messages also had attempted to lure him away from his home for a fight, which he had resisted, instead challenging Lopez to come to his apartment and “fight like a man,” but not to bring weapons.

Kirby was speaking with Andrew Sparks when the gunshots started late that night. She saw the first muzzle flash out of the corner of her eye. Then she heard people screaming.

“I looked over and my son was on the ground,” she said, starting to cry.

She tried to get to Skyler but then she collapsed, and Ross Sparks tried to drag her toward the apartment.

Kirby said the last gunshot went right through her home, above the crib where her baby daughter was sleeping.

As she laid on the ground, she heard the last gunshots. Her daughter was safe in someone's arms.

A friend at the party was cradling Skyler's head on her lap. “And he was dead,” Kirby said.

Men recount shooting scene

Like Kirby, Andrew Sparks and Ian Griffith recounted the shooting incident for the court on Friday.

Andrew Sparks went to school with Orlando Lopez and Braden, but didn't know Stone.

He said his brother Ross Sparks called him over to his apartment on June 18 because he was having problems with Lopez.

While he was there that evening, Andrew Sparks recalled seeing in the group two other men – Curtis Eeds, who lived next door and made a brief appearance, and another man known as “Goofy.” Both Eeds and Goofy had come from Eeds' home through a hole in the fence between the Sparks and Eeds residences.

Andrew Sparks said he saw several muzzle flashes and heard an estimated 10 gunshots in rapid succession.

He saw Skyler – standing near the barbecue, roasting marshmallows for s'mores – get hit by gunfire and fall, and he also witnessed Kirby collapse after being shot.

In the melee he saw someone shooting over the fence and another subject shooting from the area of the fence with missing boards. He couldn't clearly see the shooter, who he said had short hair.

He was shot in the left leg and left arm while pulling Skyler behind a car. “I didn't know he was shot at first,” Sparks said of the child. He also tried to help Kirby get up.

Sparks, who said his left arm no longer works “all that well,” believes he was shot by two different weapons, with the gunshots sounding different to him. He said he believed the gun being fired over the fence was a shotgun.

The 19-year-old Griffith, who followed Sparks to the stand, said he went to school with Leonardo Lopez and knew Braden from drug court, but like Sparks didn't know Stone. He had been asked to go to Sparks' home because of concerns over Gamble's fight.

Griffith said he couldn't see the shooters due to the darkness, but he did see the first muzzle flash and heard as many as 14 shots.

He said he knew instantly that he was shot after feeling a warm sting in his leg. He was hit by two to three pellets, which didn't take him off his feet.

But he was hit again and fell as he was going into the apartment. As he was inside the home trying to check his wounds, Armijo fell and then Kirby went down.

Testimony in the case will resume on Wednesday, Oct. 5.

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Cal Fire and firefighters from Williams and Maxwell responded to the blaze, which initially was reported at about 2 p.m. three miles north of Highway 20 on Bear Valley Road, according to Cal Fire Battalion Chief Linda Green.

The fire burned mostly grass across a creek and under some high voltage power lines, which made it difficult for the planes to reach it, Green said.

Green said Cal Fire sent its usual wildland dispatch, including two air tankers, a helicopter, an air attack plane, five engines, two dozers and two hand crews.

Green said the fire's cause is still under investigation.

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The girls, aged 5 and 6, were located at about 7:30 p.m., just before dark, according to a report from Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office. They were scared but unharmed.

Bauman said sheriff's officials were dispatched to the Hoberg area of Cobb Mountain just before 5 p.m. Thursday in response to the girls having gone missing from a fenced back yard.

Sheriff Frank Rivero and his deputies responded to Angelly Way in Cobb where they collected additional information and received descriptions of the missing girls, Bauman said.

Bauman's report said dozens of county safety personnel responded, coming from the sheriff's office, Cal Fire, Lake County Search and Rescue volunteers, Lake County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services personnel, South Lake County Fire personnel, Lakeport Police and California Highway Patrol.

Cal Fire Battalion Chief Linda Green said her agency was contacted by the sheriff's dispatch after 5 p.m. She said a unit from Cobb and several Cal Fire personnel, including herself, responded.

When she got there, Rivero was at the scene. “He just needed help with the search,” Green said.

Bauman said Cal Fire, CHP and REACH all provided aerial support for the search, while neighbors and volunteers joined the officials on the ground.

Green said Cal Fire's helicopter 104 assisted in the search, focusing on an area on the ridgeline where someone was heard screaming for help.

The helicopter kept finding children and adults in the woods, who were taking part in the search, Green said. One of the missing girls was wearing pink, so they focused on looking for that color.

Green said the helicopter spotted the girls at about 7:20 p.m., and someone on the ground who had a radio confirmed it was them.

Bauman said a neighbor volunteer located the girls stranded in a ravine near Trinity Road in Cobb.

The children were found in a thick patch of manzanita. Green said it wasn't clear how the girls got into the manzanita, where rescue personnel had to crawl in to get them.

Bauman said the girls were airlifted out of the area by the Cal Fire helicopter and assessed by medical personnel. Lake County Sheriff’s personnel subsequently reunited them with their parents.

The girls' mothers, Ashley Williams and Nicole Reimers, posted their thanks to the community and officials on Lake County News' Facebook page Thursday night.

The girls were at Reimers' home when they decided to go exploring, according to the posts.

“I am overwhelmed by the amount of support and how quickly everyone jumped in. Thank you from the bottom of my soul. I am so proud to live in a community like this,” Reimers wrote.

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Ross Sparks, 25, of Clearlake said on the stand Thursday that he had begun receiving threatening texts from Orlando Lopez, who along with Kevin Stone and Paul Braden are charged with the murder of 4-year-old Skyler Rapp.

The men also are charged with attempted murder, mayhem, assault with a deadly weapon and special allegations for wounding Desiree Kirby, the child's mother; Sparks and his younger brother, Andrew; Ian Griffith; and Joseph Armijo.

Nine days before the shooting, Ross Sparks' 17-year-old cousin, Josh Gamble – the opening witness in the preliminary hearing on Wednesday – had allegedly been assaulted by Lopez's younger brother, Leonardo, and a local gang that call themselves the “Ave. Boys,” for Clearlake's Avenues area.

Based on testimony so far, that fight and the resulting tensions appear to have laid the groundwork for the deadly confrontation in Sparks' yard late on the night of June 18.

Sparks testified that he had known Lopez – who played football with his younger brother – and Braden before the shootings, but had not known Stone.

At one point on Thursday morning District Attorney Don Anderson asked Judge Stephen Hedstrom to admonish Lopez, who was sitting in the jury box along with Braden and Stone. Anderson said that he witnessed Lopez mouthing something in an angry manner to Sparks during his testimony.

“What I'm going to say goes for everyone in this courtroom during these proceedings,” said Hedstrom. “This is a court of law and we have certain procedure and decorum.”

Hedstrom would have to offer several admonishments on Thursday, including urging Sparks to use “a little bit better language” after he had casually used a profane term during testimony.

When Sparks balked at answering questions Stone's defense attorney Komnith Moth posed about the two beers Sparks drank on the day of the shooting, Hedstrom gently explained that – while he understood that Sparks has “gone through a great deal” – he had an obligation to answer the questions put to him, including those he didn't necessarily want to answer.

The other witness on the stand Thursday, Rafael Escarcega – a Sonoma County Jail inmate who met Stone after his arrest in Santa Rosa – also would get the judge's firm direction that he had to answer questions posed about past connections to the Norteños gang.

Hedstrom also overruled a motion submitted by the defense attorneys in the case on Wednesday relating to a threatening text message saying “F*** your life” that Lopez reportedly sent to Sparks before the shooting.

Attorney Stephen Carter, who represented Lopez, had objected to the text message on grounds including hearsay. Hedstrom admitted it in relation to Lopez's case, but not Braden's.

According to his Thursday testimony, Sparks had what he believed had been a friendly conversation with Orlando Lopez about two days before the shooting. Lopez was at the home of Curtis Eeds, Sparks' neighbor, when Sparks came over to do some laundry.

Sparks said he told Lopez that his brother “had one coming” because of the fight with Gamble, and Lopez told him not to worry about it, that he would take care of it.

But on June 18, beginning around 11:30 a.m., Sparks received three to four threatening texts from a phone number he didn't recognize. When he called the number, Lopez picked up – Sparks recognized Lopez's voice – and the men began talking.

At first things seemed OK, but Sparks said things quickly went bad. “He said that he wanted to fight so I said just go ahead and bring it over,” said Sparks, adding that he told Lopez not to bring guns or weapons because of his children and family.

Sparks testified that Lopez said he was going to come over and bash in Sparks' head and the heads of his family members with the same pipe that his brother had allegedly used on Gamble more than a week earlier.

He said Lopez hung up on him but later Leonardo Lopez called back.

After that call, Sparks called a friend, as well as his brother Andrew and cousin Jeremiah Gamble for their help in case Lopez showed up to “fight like a man.”

Sparks said he was raised with firearms but doesn't keep them at his home. The shotgun that he owns stays at his grandmother's residence.

He said Eeds gave him a chain with two locks on it to use as a weapon; Eeds hung it on the fence, where Sparks guessed it may remain to this day.

At Eeds home Sparks spoke to a man known to him as “Goofy,” who came over to the barbecue at Sparks' home later that night. Goofy told Sparks “to watch out, be careful” regarding the threats.

Goofy also told Sparks that he recently had sold Lopez a .32 caliber pistol.

Sparks said he had sat in his driveway all day waiting for Lopez to show up. He would get additional texts from the number purported to be Lopez's, trying to get him to meet either at Oak Hill Middle School or the site of the former Outrageous Waters water park.

“I ain't walking into no trap. I ain't no sucker,” Sparks said.

He then got another message, “Where are you?” He responded that he was at his home.

Later that night, he said Eeds left his home next door and Goofy came over to ask where Eeds had gone. Goofy then hung out in the yard, leaning up against one of several cars parked there, and was accompanied by a young man in his 20s who Sparks said he didn't know.

It was close to 11 p.m. when the gunshots were fired at Sparks and his family and friends over and through the fence that separated his apartment from Eeds' home.

At first he thought the shot was a firecracker, but then he saw the first of five muzzle flashes.

“After that there was continuous gunshots,” he said. “People were scattering, falling, screaming, running. And then they ended,” he said of the shots, which he said numbered six to eight.

Sparks said the first shot was extremely loud, as if double ought buckshot was being fired. Two of the other shots were lower and “totally different” in the way they sounded, like there was a different gun involved, such as a small pistol or a smaller-caliber rifle.

He said he saw the silhouettes of the shooters, but couldn't further describe the suspects.

What he did see was his 4-year-old stepson lying dead in the middle of the driveway, his brother and Kirby both with gunshot wounds from their shoulders to the toes, and Armijo and Griffith shot through the legs.

Sparks also was shot through the leg, with the bullet entering under his right buttock and exiting from the inside of the leg. He would later have to be airlifted to UC Davis Medical Center, although, at first, “I didn't know that I was hit. My adrenaline was pumping so bad.”

He said he went and picked up Skyler. “He wasn't moving or breathing. I instantly knew he was gone.”

Next he went to Kirby, who was the most badly injured of the other victims. He said she was going in and out of consciousness. “I thought she was going to die,” said Sparks.

Sparks said he tried calling 911 several times before he finally got through.

After about three hours on the stand Thursday Sparks was allowed to step down.

Jail statements cause concern for defense

Anderson went out of order in presenting his witnesses on Thursday. It's his right to do, but that move ended up causing some consternation for Carter, Moth and Braden's attorney, Doug Rhoades.

That's because after Sparks left the stand Anderson called Rafael Escarcega of Santa Rosa, who was transported from the Sonoma County Jail – where he is awaiting sentencing on possession of a controlled substance – to Lake County to testify.

Escarcega offered information about discussions he had with Stone, who was arrested in Santa Rosa in late June after being on the run for close to two weeks. For about a week after his arrest, Stone was housed in the Sonoma County Jail, where he met Escarcega.

Before Escarcega's testimony got fully under way, the defense attorneys asked for a brief break to look at a new law that could impact jailhouse testimony and then meet with Hedstrom. After the break it was determined that the legislation wasn't applicable in the case.

Escarcega said he and Stone were housed in the same area of the Sonoma County Jail. He said Stone told him he had been arrested for murder and attempted murder, and that a child had been killed.

Stone also allegedly stated to Escarcega that he is a Norteño gang member.

Escarcega said Stone said “Nano,” the nickname Lopez goes by, and “Pelon” – which means “bald” in Spanish, and could refer to Braden, whose head was shaved at the time of his arrest, according to his booking photo – were the shooters.

Escarcega said of Stone, “He said he didn't have a weapon but he was the driver,” and had been driving a “neighborhood scraper” that everyone used.

Stone “got very defensive” when asked about his role in the shooting, said Escarcega.

Escarcega took three pages of notes to document his conversations with Stone.

He testified that Stone said the shootings were gang related, although he hadn't documented that in his notes and hadn't told a Clearlake Police detective about those alleged statements in an interview nearly two months ago. He said he was remembering things on the stand Thursday that he hadn't recalled previously.

Moth questioned Escarcega about ripping off a friend of Stone's for $1,500 in connection with a drug deal. Escarcega said he didn't know the person Moth was referencing.

Escarcega himself got defensive and challenged the relevance of questions Moth and his fellow defense attorneys posed to him regarding his own Norteño gang affiliation.

He said he joined the Norteños in 1991, and left the group when he was 30, 17 months ago.

Escarcega said he never took part in Norteño-related activity in Lake County, and had never met Lopez or Braden.

Testimony in the case will continue at 10:30 a.m. Friday in Hedstrom's Clearlake courtroom.

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Curiosity is about to go to Mars. The car-sized rover, also known as the Mars Science Lab, is scheduled for launch in late November or early December 2011 from the Kennedy Space Center.

After an eight-month voyage to Mars, Curiosity will land at the foot of a 3 mile high mountain in a crater named “Gale.”

It sounds a little odd – a mountain in the middle of an impact crater. Wouldn't the impact have smashed it flat?

Some scientists believe the 96 mile wide crater filled in with sediments over time and relentless Martian winds carved a mountain in the center, where it now stands nearly three times higher than the Grand Canyon is deep.

Because of its history, this strangely sculpted mountain is the ideal place for Curiosity to conduct its mission of exploration into the Red Planet's past.

“This may be one of the thickest exposed sections of layered sedimentary rocks in the solar system,” said Joy Crisp, Mars Science Lab deputy project scientist from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “The rock record preserved in those layers holds stories that are billions of years old – stories about whether, when, and for how long Mars might have been habitable.”

Today the Red Planet is a radiation-drenched, bitterly cold, bleak world. Enormous dust storms explode across the barren landscape and darken Martian skies for months at a time.

But data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter suggest that Mars once hosted vast lakes and flowing rivers.

“Gale Crater and its mountain will tell this intriguing story,” said Matthew Golombek, Mars Exploration Program Landing Site Scientist from JPL. “The layers there chronicle Mars' environmental history.”

In the gentle slopes around the mountain, Curiosity will prospect for organic molecules, the chemical building blocks of life. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has found an intriguing signature of clay near the bottom of the mountain and sulfate minerals a little higher up.

Both minerals are formed in the presence of water, which increases potential for life-friendly environments.

“All the types of aqueous minerals we've detected on Mars to date can be found in this one location,” explained Golombek.

Clay settles slowly in water and forms little platelets that conform around things, hardening over time and encasing them in “casts.” Clay could seal organics off from the outside environment much like it preserved dinosaur bones on Earth.

“If organics ever existed on Mars, they could be preserved in the clay,” Golombek said.

Even on planet Earth, teeming with life, finding billion year-old well-preserved organics is difficult. But Curiosity will find them if they're present in the samples it takes.

The rover is equipped with the most advanced suite of instruments for scientific studies ever sent to the Martian surface. When these are brought to bear on Gale crater’s mysteriously layered mountain, the odds of a discovery will be at an all-time high.

As seasoned travelers know, however, the journey is just as important as the destination. Curiosity can travel up to 150 meters per Mars day, but will stop often to gather and analyze samples.

“It could take several months to a year to reach the foot of the mountain, depending on how often the rover stops along the way,” said Golombek. “There will be plenty to examine before getting to the central mound.”

A high-resolution camera on the rover's mast will take pictures and movies of the scenery, taking Earthlings on an extraterrestrial sightseeing tour.

“As Curiosity climbs toward higher layers, you'll see spectacular valleys and canyons like those in the U.S. desert southwest,” Golombek said. “The walls on either side of the rover will rise over 100 feet. The sights alone will be worth the trip.”

Stay tuned for updates from the Red Planet.

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Retired Alameda County Superior Court Judge William McKinstry said that he found that Jerry Stanley, 66, was competent during the 1983 trial in Butte County.

Stanley and his attorney, Jack Leavitt, appeared via video conference from San Quentin State Prison, where Stanley has been housed on death row since February 1984.

The case now goes back to the federal courts, where appeals on the case have gone on for years, despite Stanley's sometimes contradicting claims that he actually wants to be executed.

In August of 1980 Stanley – who had worked as a hunting guide – used a high-powered rifle to shoot his wife, Cynthia Ann Rogers, from across Highway 20 as she was at her father's resort in Nice.

Five years earlier he had murdered his first wife, Kathleen Rhiley, and was linked to the disappearance on Feb. 14, 1980, of his second wife, Diana Lynn Ramel in Manton, in northern Tehama County.

The retrospective competency hearing in Stanley's case resulted from a March 2008 decision by federal Judge Frank C. Damrell, who ruled that because of juror misconduct in the penalty phase of Stanley's trial – during which his competency was considered – the retrospective hearing was necessary.

After Damrell's decision, the case went back to Butte County – where it was moved due to pretrial publicity – but earlier this year it was ruled that the matter could come back to Lake.

On Sept. 7 McKinstry had presided in a hearing in the case, during which Stanley – also appearing at that time by video conference – told the court he deserved to die for killing his wife.

At that appearance, both Stanley and Leavitt explained that Stanley's competency had been raised by his original defense team after he had objected to their desire to call his family members as witnesses.

Stanley, in turn, tried to stop the testimony of Dr. Allen Axelrad, and his attorneys questioned his competency. However, Leavitt said Stanley eventually allowed Axelrad's testimony to go forward.

Stanley's federal defenders – against his wishes, according to him and Leavitt – raised concerns about a female juror in the penalty phase who had been a domestic violence victim and had not informed the court of that fact. Yet Stanley testified that he and his original defense team were aware of the issue, and that he wanted to keep her on the jury anyway.

During the half-hour hearing Friday morning, Stanley waived his right to a jury trial in the matter under questioning by McKinstry, who indicated he had read numerous transcripts from both the original 1983 trial and more recent proceedings in Butte County.

The judge said the attorneys could argue if Stanley was mentally competent. District Attorney Don Anderson asked McKinstry for his intended decision.

“I'm inclined to find Mr. Stanley competent,” unless counsel wanted to point out something he hadn't considered, McKinstry said.

Anderson waived his right to offer arguments. Leavitt asked McKinstry to consider that in his Sept. 7 appearance Stanley had testified under oath that he was convinced that he was competent at the time of his original trial.

He also pointed out, “The only alleged basis for Mr. Stanley's incompetency was his early refusal to waive a privilege he had in being able to bar Dr. Axelrad from testifying,” with Stanley later allowing the testimony.

“The focus of these entire proceedings seems to be clouded,” said Leavitt. “They never should have taken place.”

Leavitt argued that all of the issues at the heart of the proceedings were cured in 1984. “On that basis we feel there should be no question of the competency findings and the lack of a need for a competency finding because the issue was moot.”

Leavitt asked McKinstry to request that the federal court investigate the allegations that the competency motion was made against Stanley's wishes, and that the federal defense team withheld the information that Stanley's original trial defense team knew of the female juror's background.

“We consider that Mr. Stanley was misrepresented deliberately and that an investigation is worthwhile,” said Leavitt.

Leavitt further requested that McKinstry ask the State Bar of California to take action on Butte County attorney Dennis Hoptowit's failure to provide Stanley's file in connection with recent Butte County appearances to Leavitt as ordered by the court.

“Other than that, Mr. Stanley and I concur in your tentative ruling” that he was competent, Leavitt said.

Leavitt asked Stanley if he agreed with McKinstry's finding that he was competent. “I absolutely agree,” Stanley said.

McKinstry said he found Stanley's testimony credible. He ruled that Stanley was competent during the original proceedings, and that he understood the nature and purpose of the original trial.

As to Leavitt's request that McKinstry make certain recommendations and findings regarding a federal investigation, McKinstry noted, “I believe that my jurisdiction in this matter is quite narrow.”

He said the federal court was exercising its habeas corpus powers when it ordered the retrospective hearing. If there was to be further review of that process, it would need to be at the federal level.

McKinstry said he would consider the matter of asking the state bar to look into the Hoptowit issue.

He executed a competency determination document and adjourned the hearing.

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Aaron Bassler of Fort Bragg, Calif., is wanted for two murders which occurred in August 2011. He fired on deputies taking part in the search for him on Thursday, September 29, 2011. Mendocino County Sheriff's photo.

NORTH COAST, Calif. – Mendocino County's sheriff said the search for a homicide suspect in the woods near Fort Bragg is intensifying after the man fired on several deputies Thursday morning.

Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman called a Thursday evening press conference to offer an update on the search for 35-year-old Aaron James Bassler, who has been on the run since the August murders of Matthew Coleman and Fort Bragg City Councilman Jere Melo.

Shortly before noon on Thursday a three-member team from the Alameda County Sheriff's Office was assisting in the search when they came under fire from Bassler, who they spotted about 100 meters away, said Allman.

The team returned fire in self-defense, and Bassler then seemed to disappear, only to reappear a short time later and open fire on the team again, Allman said.

“We know that the three-member team fired approximately 10 shots,” said Allman, although it wasn't clear Thursday evening how many shots Bassler had fired or what caliber rifle he was using.

In the wake of the incident, Allman said a very high intensity search was set in motion, with approximately 40 law enforcement officer continuing the search through the night.

Additional K9s – which have been among the most effective tools in the search – are being brought in from around the state, said Allman.

He said none of the law enforcement officers involved in the Thursday shooting were injured, and they were safely extracted from the area, with another team sent in their place.

It was not clear if Bassler had been injured in the confrontation, Allman said.

Allman did not give the exact location of the confrontation, but he said it was in an area where in recent days Bassler has been linked to a series of vacation cabin burglaries. Those cabins are located in the area of Northspur Road – 14 miles east of Fort Bragg and 10 miles northwest of Willits along the Noyo River watershed.

Officials said it's believed that Bassler flanked the team, a method he allegedly used in killing Melo on Aug. 27, when Melo was on private timber property land he managed.

The team members were being interviewed Thursday evening by the Mendocino County District Attorney's investigations team as part of the normal protocol in an officer-involved shooting.

However, Allman said the interviews also are meant to assist the search for Bassler.

Allman added that the team members were being treated as crime victims, alleging that Bassler committed three acts of attempted murder on the peace officers. Allman did not release the team members' names.

For 34 days the search for Bassler – the biggest in the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office's history, involving local, state and federal agencies – has continued in a 400-square-mile forested area near Fort Bragg, Allman said.

Complicating the search is Bassler's knowledge of the area's forests. Allman said in a Monday press conference that Bassler has been known to spend months at a time surviving in the area's woods.

Law enforcement had reported previously that they had gotten close to Bassler earlier this month when a K-9 had contact with him, but he managed to escape.

The area where the team engaged Bassler on Thursday has heavy, dense brush, and therefore it wasn't surprising that they lost sight of him, said Allman.

Bassler was reported as wearing black clothing, which those who know him have told authorities is common, Allman said.

Allman said that, as a result of the shooting, a reverse 911 call was sent to all structures in the area that had landlines or cell phones registered to them in an effort to advise residents of the confrontation.

Allman emphasized there is no plan to end the search for Bassler until there is some resolution.

“We believe we're getting closer,” he said. “We believe we can get resolution soon.”

The Lake County Sheriff's Office – which has been involved in sending assistance since the search started – has chipped in with additional resources, as have Sacramento and Sonoma counties, Allman said.

“Sheriff Rivero called me immediately upon hearing of this,” Allman said of Lake County's sheriff, who sent the county's SWAT team members to assist.

Allman said SWAT team members from Lake and Sacramento counties have been deployed to the scene where the confrontation took place.

“Tomorrow may bring resolution,” Allman said, adding that he hopes Bassler is taken into custody without another shot being fired.

To Bassler's family members, Allman said if they can get Bassler to surrender, “I am just a phone call away.”

The cost for the operation is approaching $300,000, but Allman insisted money concerns aren't at the top of the list in this case.

“We're not going to save a dime and compromise public safety in this situation,” he said. “Our citizens feel under threat.”

A $30,000 reward remains in place for information – not participation – leading to Bassler's apprehension, Allman said.

Allman urged people to stay out of the forests near Fort Bragg and to be aware of their surroundings at all times.

Sightings of Bassler should be reported to the command post at 707-961-2479 or 911 under emergency situations.

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Firefighters prepare a crash victim to be transported to an area trauma center after a crash on Friday, September 30, 2011. The victim suffered minor injuries, according to the California Highway Patrol. Photo by Gary McAuley.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Highway 29 was closed briefly on Friday evening because of a two-vehicle collision.

The crash was reported at about 6:20 p.m. on Highway 29 near Bottle Rock Road, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The CHP said a black Toyota pickup collided with a car. An off-duty Cal Fire paramedic called in the collision.

The car's driver suffered head trauma and was transported to an area trauma center via REACH air ambulance, according to reports from the scene.

The highway was closed to allow the helicopter to land and pick up the patient.

The CHP said the crash resulted in minor injuries.

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A REACH air ambulance landed on Highway 29 at Bottle Rock Road near Kelseyville to pick up a crash victim on Friday, September 30, 2011. Photo by Gary McAuley.

Forecasters have issued a severe weather alert for much of Northern California including Lake County as a series of cold fronts line up to move into Lake County beginning on Monday.

Noticeably cooler weather was enjoyed on Friday, after several days of mid- to upper-90s daytime highs earlier in the week, and this weekend's daytime highs are predicted to remain in the mid-70s, with a 20 percent chance of rain on Saturday.

Bigger changes in the weather are forecast to move in late Monday, with chances for rain showers throughout Wednesday.

With the pear harvest mostly completed, the winegrape harvest under way and the walnut harvest yet to begin, heavy rains and high winds are a concern for local farmers.

Daytime highs Monday through Wednesday are expected to be in the upper-60s to low 70s, with overnight temperatures in the upper-40s.

Clouds and chances for rain are expected to move out by Thursday, with daytime highs climbing back into the mid- to upper-70s.

For up-to-the-minute weather information, please visit the Lake County News homepage.

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Josh Leo Johnson, 35, of Santa Rosa, arrested earlier this month in Lake County for the June 4 assault at Konocti Vista Casino, is among the eight individuals charged in a 25-count federal indictment that includes allegations of conspiracy to commit financial institution fraud and wire fraud, according to U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag.

Johnson was arrested in the case during the week of Sept. 19, as were Jacob Moynihan, 30, of San Francisco; Gerald Moynihan, 51, of Santa Rosa; Greco, 38, of Rohnert Park; Raymond Foakes, 48, of Rohnert Park; Desiree Maclean, 25, of Rohnert Park; and Justin Batemon, 34, of Hayward, the FBI and US Attorney's Office reported.

Jerry Mays, 63, of San Pablo, remains at large, officials reported.

The defendants in the case each made their initial appearances in federal court in San Francisco on Sept. 22, and are scheduled to appear for a status conference before United States District Court Judge William Alsup on Nov. 8 at 2 p.m.

In the Lake County assault case, Johnson is facing charges including felony participation in a criminal street gang, misdemeanor fighting in public, misdemeanor battery and special allegations relating to the infliction of great bodily injury and the participation in a criminal street gang, according to the District Attorney's Office.

So far, it's not clear if the federal case will impede the Lake County prosecution, according to Deputy District Attorney Art Grothe.

“It is unknown exactly how the new federal prosecution will effect the progress of the Lake County case,” Grothe said Thursday. “However, it does add another level of complexity in scheduling and coordinating appearances. We expect both cases to go forward at the normal pace, but some minor delays may be possible due to scheduling.”

According to the federal indictment, some of the defendants – including Johnson – hold leadership positions in, and are members of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club.

In addition to allegations of conspiracy to commit financial institution fraud and wire fraud, the federal indictment alleges that Johnson, along with Jacob Moynihan, Gerald Moynihan, Greco, Foakes, Maclean, Mays and Batemon also committed money laundering, conspiracy to maintain drug-involved premises and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance between 2006 and 2007 in the greater San Francisco Bay area.

One of the primary defendants in the federal case, Jacob Moynihan, was a loan officer in San Francisco. Jacob Moynihan owned Xanadu Global Investment LLC and, during the relevant timeframe, worked at Universal Mortgage and Sales Inc., Onyx Capital Property and Investment Inc., and Accelerated Funding and Realty Inc.

The indictment alleges that the defendants conspired with one another and others to procure a series of fraudulent mortgage loans and refinancing loans for pieces of real property in and around the Bay Area, including San Francisco, Sonoma, Petaluma, Healdsburg and Santa Rosa.

The FBI and US Attorney's Office reported that the scheme initially involved recruiting straw buyers to obtain mortgage loans in exchange for money.

The scheme allegedly was accomplished by generating falsified bank statements, fictitious employment history and false income information for client-borrowers.

In many cases, bank statements were physically altered to reflect inflated balances and deposit activity. These falsified documents were then submitted to mortgage lenders to obtain mortgage loans, some in excess of $1 million, on terms that the lenders would otherwise not have funded. The properties underlying those loans were subsequently foreclosed upon.

The total amount of fraudulent loans was in excess of $10 million, according to the indictment.

Kathryn Haun is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Sutton Peirce. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Arvon Pereet is assisting with the asset forfeiture aspects of the case.

The prosecution is the result of a multi-year investigation by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Santa Rosa Resident Agency.

The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office has assisted with portions of the narcotics aspects of the case.

The maximum statutory penalty for each count of conspiracy to commit financial institution fraud and wire fraud – and for each substantive count of financial institution fraud – is 30 years in prison and a fine of $1 million or twice the loss. The maximum statutory penalty for each count of wire fraud is 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the loss.

If convicted the defendants could face a maximum 10-year sentence for each count of money laundering, as well as a fine of $250,000 or twice the loss; up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $500,000 for each count of conspiracy to maintain a drug-involved premise; and a minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 40 years in prison and a $5 million fine for possession with intent to distribute 100 or more marijuana plants. Restitution may be ordered for any count.

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090111 Josh Johnson Federal Indictment