LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Three defendants in a 2014 double homicide case have reached plea agreements with the District Attorney's Office, with one of them facing life in prison and the other two released from custody.
Conrad Joseph Velez, 43, of Lakeport, is facing 50 years to life in prison, while his son, 21-year-old Dakota Joseph Velez of Kelseyville, is being placed on formal probation.
Conrad Velez's girlfriend at the time of the murders, Dahnna Phyllis Burrows, 28, of Lakeport, already has served the time required for the sentence she's expected to receive early next month.
The three were arrested and charged in connection with the January 2014 murders of 54-year-old William Frank Busch of Lakeport and Edward Harry Morgan, 46, of Kelseyville.
The body of Busch, who Borg said died of skull fractures but also suffered numerous stab wounds – was found in a burning building on Highland Springs Road in Lakeport late on the night of Jan. 27, 2014, with a vehicle that belonged to him found burning in a field on Soda Bay Road the following morning.
On the afternoon of Jan. 28, 2014, deputies and firefighters were dispatched to the area of Robin Hill Drive and Lakeshore Boulevard near Lakeport on the report of an assault victim found Morgan with stab wounds, with the Velezes and Burrows having left in his white Chevy Tahoe. He died at the scene shortly after deputies and firefighters arrived.
Conrad Velez and Burrows were arrested at a relative's home in the city of Napa on Jan. 28, 2014. Dakota Velez was arrested at a family member's home in Hopland the following evening.
The plea agreements for each of the defendants was reached early last week, according to District Attorney Don Anderson.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Ed Borg – who has led the prosecution of the case, with assistance from Anderson – said that while the pleas all occurred at the same time, it wasn't a “global” offer, which would have required that all of them take the deals.
“We never discussed it that way, it just all sort of happened at the same time,” he said.
The most serious charges – two counts of first-degree murder – were placed against Conrad Velez, who has a violent criminal history including three previous strikes, Anderson said.
Prosecutors asserted that Conrad Velez was responsible for killing both Bush and Morgan. “They were very physical murders. They were very brutal,” said Borg.
Anderson said that as a result of the plea, Conrad Velez got two 25-years-to-life sentences, which are consecutive. As such, he has to serve the 50 years of the determinate sentence before he starts the life sentence.
At the time of the killings, Conrad Velez was a parolee at large, and had only gotten out of state prison weeks beforehand.
“We hope he’s going to remain in prison for the rest of his natural life,” said Borg.
Barry Melton, Velez's attorney, did not respond to a request for comment on the case.
Earlier this year, the District Attorney's Office had concluded – after consulting with the victims' families – that the death penalty would not be sought in the case against the Velezes, as Lake County News has reported.
Borg said Burrows pleaded to two counts of being an accessory – one for each victim – and the theft of Morgan's vehicle, which was recovered at the time of her arrest in Napa. When she was arrested, she was in possession of the keys, Borg said.
Although Burrows originally had faced murder charges, “Her charges were greatly reduced at preliminary hearing,” said her attorney, Angela Carter.
Burrows, who had no prior criminal record, was looking at a maximum prison time of three years, Anderson said.
When she returns for her sentencing on Dec. 7, Burrows will receive time served, Carter said.
Burrows had been in jail since her January 2014 arrest, but has now been released, as has Dakota Velez. “The plea agreement provided for their release on their own recognizance,” said Carter.
Borg said Dakota Velez pleaded to arson of a structure and assault with a deadly weapon on Morgan. He will be sentenced on Jan. 4.
Dakota Velez's plea agreement allows for him to be on five years' formal probation, Anderson said. He had to waive his time served credits – which would have been close to a total of four years' time – which means if he violates his probation he could do six years in state prison.
Anderson said the two charges Dakota Velez pleaded to as part of the agreement are strikes. If he were ever to commit and be convicted of a third strike offense, he could potentially face life in prison.
While Dakota Velez's sentence may seem light, “This is as much as we could prove of his involvement,” said Anderson, adding that at the time of the murders the younger Velez was only 18. “He had no prior record.”
Anderson said Conrad Velez coerced his son to commit the arson through threats. “Conrad was the type of person who would carry out those threats.”
While that's not a justification, Anderson said a jury would have been able to consider that coercion had the case gone to trial.
Mitch Hauptman, Dakota Velez's attorney, declined to comment on the case at this point in the proceedings.
As for what led to the murders, “We can’t say definitively what the motive was,” said Anderson.
He said that Conrad Velez and Busch had some dealings with each other relating to controlled substances, but “we don’t know to what extent.”
They also haven't found out what occurred with Morgan, who had given the three a ride. “We don't even know where they were going. That never came out,” said Anderson.
“Somewhere along the way, something went wrong,” said Anderson, noting that Conrad Velez may have been angered by something or it may have been a carjacking.
What prosecutors do know is that Conrad Velez – who was seated in the back seat of Morgan's Chevy Tahoe – started stabbing Morgan, throwing him out of the vehicle.
Borg said he doesn't know why Busch and Morgan were targeted, explaining that “most murders are, by their nature, completely pointless.”
He added, “There’s no way to look at this and have it make any sense that someone would do these things to other people.”
Only the people who were present know what was at the root of the incident, “And they’ve never really told us,” Borg said.
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