- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
REGIONAL: Laytonville teen arrested for killing two, stabbing two others; victims include Canadian nationals
NORTH COAST, Calif. – Mendocino County officials have arrested a 19-year-old Laytonville resident who they said stabbed two people to death and injured two others in an early Sunday morning attack that the county's sheriff called a “mass tragedy.”
Talen Clark Barton was booked into the Mendocino County Jail on Sunday afternoon for two counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder and one count of false imprisonment.
“We don't know what his motive was,” Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman told reporters in a Sunday afternoon press conference.
Allman said all of his agency's detectives – along with the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office and the California Department of Justice – are continuing to process the scene of the attack, which was at a home on south Meadow Lane two miles northwest of the town of Laytonville.
The names of the victims – all of whom lived at the home or were visiting family members – have not yet been released, said Allman, as the notification process is under way.
With some of the victims being Canadians, Allman said his agency was working with the Canadian Embassy on making notifications to next of kin.
Barton was not from Mendocino County and had been staying at the home for an unknown period of time in what was a possible foster care situation, Allman said.
Allman said the incident began at about 12:15 a.m. Sunday, when Barton left his bedroom, retrieved a 12-inch knife from the kitchen and went into the bedroom of a 17-year-old male, who he stabbed.
A 54-year-old female came to the 17-year-old's aid and also was attacked, but the woman – while wounded – survived, said Allman.
Allman said Barton then attacked and mortally wounded a 52-year-old male, stabbing him multiple times in the head and neck before chasing the wounded woman down the home's stairs.
The woman's screams awoke two juvenile female teens staying in the home, as well as another 52-year-old male who Barton stabbed in the chest but who survived, Allman said.
Following the stabbings, Barton told the two young female teens that they were not to call 911 until 8 a.m., after he had arranged to get transportation away from the scene, according to Allman.
At that point, Barton cut a charger code from a phone charger and had one of the teens tie up the dead 52-year-old man and tie up herself, Allman said.
One of the teens ultimately talked Barton into calling 911; Allman said that call came into the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Dispatch Center at approximately 12:46 a.m.
“Our dispatchers were able to keep him on the line during the time that our deputies were responding,” Allman said.
It took deputies around 25 minutes to get to the scene, Allman said, with Long Valley Fire, Cal Fire, the District Attorney's Office and the Department of Justice ultimately joining officials on scene.
Allman said while Barton was waiting for deputies to respond, he changed out of all of his blood-soaked clothing.
Upon the deputies' arrival, Barton admitted to them that he was a heavy marijuana user – staying high during his waking hours – and that while he was on the phone with dispatchers he had smoked quite a bit of marijuana “knowing the deputy sheriffs were on their way,” Allman said.
Allman said Barton also told authorities he hadn't intended to hurt the two juvenile females.
Deputies found the wounded 54-year-old woman still alive, with one of the deputies applying pressure to the wounds on her neck, an action Allman credited for helping to save her life.
She subsequently was transported by ambulance and then helicopter to a hospital, as was the surviving 52-year-old male stab victim. Allman said both were listed in critical but stable condition and are expected to survive.
Allman said the investigation so far has led to information that over the last two weeks Barton had been discussing with a friend his desire to kill someone.
“None of this information was brought to law enforcement's attention” before the Sunday morning incident, Allman said.
Allman said the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office had one criminal contact with Barton in January of 2013, but because Barton was a juvenile at that time Allman said he couldn't discuss specifics.
Authorities have been in contact with Child Protective Services to provide emergency housing for the two juvenile females until their parents can be notified and respond, Allman said.
“This is a tragedy. It could have been worse,” said Allman, acknowledging the efforts of the first responders to save the lives of the wounded.
Allman said additional details of the crime, as well as the names of the victims, will be released once family members have been notified and he has consulted with investigators.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.