As Robert Daniel Thompson lay in his hospital bed with gunshot wounds, Eureka police remained tight-lipped Monday about the events leading up to his shooting.
Thompson, a 43-year-old member of the Hells Angels, was acquitted this year of murder charges in the 1986 unsolved homicides of 12-year-old Jodi Ragsdale and 15-year-old Sheila Carter.
Eureka Police Detective Sgt. Patrick O'Neill, the investigator handling Thompson's case, said detectives have yet to speak with Thompson. He was transported to UC Davis Medical Center after he was shot Friday at the intersection of Third and C streets in Eureka.
Although O'Neill acknowledged speculation that Thompson's shooting may have been due to a rivalry between biker gangs, the Hells Angels and the Mongols, he said investigators haven't confirmed a motive. "We're working the case and every lead that comes in," O'Neill said. "We're looking at every possible explanation for this."
Police said four men have been booked into Humboldt County Jail on suspicion of attempted murder in the case. The suspects are Eureka residents Eric Gunner Lundin, 28, Dustin Christopher Liebes, 36, Brad Lee Miller, 26, and Redding resident Eric Dean Garcia, 28.
Eureka police responded to the scene after 11 p.m. and found Thompson, who had been shot several times. The suspects were arrested shortly thereafter.
Lundin, Liebes and Miller remain in Humboldt County Jail in lieu of $500,000 each. Garcia is being held in lieu of $500,000, in addition to a $10,000 arrest warrant stemming from a court order violation in Manteca.
Nicknamed "Bobby T" by friends and family, Thompson was tried twice on suspicion of killing Ragsdale and Carter. A Merced County jury in July found him not guilty of committing the murders, months after his first trial ended in a hung jury. Thompson continues to maintain his innocence in the girls' deaths.
He was convicted in 1987 for kidnapping a woman and served seven years in prison. As a result, he is listed as a convicted sex offender on the state's Megan's Law Web site.
Eureka police are asking anyone with information about the crime or the suspects to call (707) 441-4300. ..News Source.. by VICTOR A. PATTON
No comments:
Post a Comment