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Marvin D. Johnson Jr., 33, and 22-year-old Simon Thornton, both reported to be transients with connections to the Ukiah area, were arrested Thursday for the murder of Joseph E. Litteral, 40, according to Capt. Kurt Smallcomb of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.
Still being sought are William Hale Crocker, 30, and Arone Schnebly, 35, Smallcomb said.
Litteral was shot at the Bu Shay Campground at Lake Mendocino in Redwood Valley on Wednesday evening, as Lake County News has reported. Another Willits man also was shot and transported to an area hospital, where he was listed in stable condition on Thursday.
Johnson had been the subject of an early morning be on the lookout to Lake County law enforcement on Thursday, with officials warning he was armed and dangerous, and that he had relatives in the county.
Smallcomb said Ukiah Police officers found Johnson in Ukiah at 11:30 a.m. Thursday.
Sheriff's detectives subsequently contacted Johnson and interviewed him. Smallcomb said Johnson was arrested on charges of murder and attempted murder. He was being held on Friday in the Mendocino County Jail on no bail status.
Also on Thursday, Mendocino County Sheriff's detectives recovered a 12-gauge shotgun and a 45-caliber pistol which investigators believe were used in the incident, Smallcomb said.
Mendocino County Sheriff's detectives, with the assistance of Willits Police officers, located Thornton in the area of Highways 20 and 101 in downtown Willits at about 6:30 p.m. Thursday, said Smallcomb.
Smallcomb said Thornton was subsequently arrested and booked into the Mendocino County Jail on murder and attempted murder charges. He also is being held on a no bail status.
The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office is still seeking Crocker and Schnebly, who Smallcomb said also are believed to have been involved in the shootings.
Smallcomb said Crocker frequents both Mendocino and Lake County, and is described as a white male adult, with brown hair and eyes. He stands approximately 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighs more than 200 pounds. He should be considered violent.
Schnebly frequents Ukiah and Willits, and is described as a white male adult, with brown hair and hazel eyes. He stands approximately 6 feet, 6 inches tall, and weighs more than 200 pounds, Smallcomb said.
Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of either suspect is encouraged to contact the Mendocino County Sheriffs Office at 707-463-4086.
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The man was hospitalized, but is now recovering at home, the agency said.
"With the first confirmed human illness from West Nile virus this year, we are intensifying our surveillance for the virus with the help of all counties,” said CDPH Chief Deputy Director Kathleen Billingsley. “To protect against West Nile virus, the most important step people can take is avoiding mosquito bites.”
West Nile virus is most commonly transmitted to humans and animals by the bite of a mosquito harboring the virus.
The risk of serious illness to most people is low. However, some individuals – less than 1 percent – will develop serious neurologic illness such as encephalitis or meningitis.
People 50 years of age and older have a higher chance of getting sick and are more likely to develop serious symptoms. Recent data also indicate that those with diabetes and/or hypertension are at greatest risk for serious illness.
To date in 2011, West Nile virus has been detected in 14 other California counties.
So far this year, Lake and its neighboring counties have been clear of the virus, based on the California West Nile Virus Web site, www.westnile.ca.gov.
The site reported that a total of 69 dead birds with the virus have been found in 12 counties, including Contra Costa, Fresno, Kings, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Santa Clara, Stanislaus, Tulare and Ventura.
Approximately 147 West Nile Virus-positive mosquito samples have been found in 14 counties – Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Joaquin, Santa Clara, Stanislaus, Sutter and Tulare.
In two counties – Kern and San Bernardino – a total of six sentinel chickens with the virus have been discovered, the Web site said.
Thus far this year, no horses or squirrels in California have been found with the virus, according to the state.
The California Department of Public Health recommends that individuals prevent exposure to mosquito bites and West Nile virus by practicing the “Four Ds”:
DEET – Apply insect repellent containing DEET, picaradin, oil of lemon eucalyptus or IR3535 according to label instructions. Repellents keep the mosquitoes from biting you. DEET can be used safely on infants and children 2 months of age and older.
DRESS – Wear clothing that reduces the risk of skin exposure to mosquito bites.
DAWN AND DUSK – Mosquitoes bite in the early morning and evening so it is important to wear repellent at this time. Make sure that your doors and windows have tight-fitting screens to keep out mosquitoes. Repair or replace screens with tears or holes.
DRAIN – Mosquitoes lay their eggs on standing water. Eliminate all sources of standing water on your property, including flower pots, old car tires, rain gutters and pet bowls. If you have a pond, use mosquito fish (available from your local mosquito and vector control agency) or commercially available products to eliminate mosquito larvae.
Californians are encouraged to report all dead birds and dead tree squirrels on the California West Nile virus Web site or by calling toll-free 1-877-WNV-BIRD (968-2473).
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CLEARLAKE PARK, Calif. – Using helicopters and ground crews, Cal Fire and Lake County Fire knocked down a wildland fire that burned several acres Thursday afternoon.
The fire was dispatched just before 5 p.m., with numerous Lake County Fire Protection District and Cal Fire engines and units racing along Clearlake Park's winding and sometimes confusing streets to locate the blaze.
Burning on a steep hillside above San Joaquin Drive, firefighters on the ground and Cal Fire crews in the air attacked the incident.
As air attack spotter planes circled overhead, a tanker dumped retardant and a helicopter made trips back and forth between nearby Clear Lake and the hillside, where it made numerous water drops.
Nearby, one homeowners stood in his yard with a hose, dousing the dried up vegetation.
Lake County Fire and Cal Fire had a unified command on the fire, with Northshore Fire Protection District sending a water tender under mutual aid, according to Lake County Fire Battalion Chief George Murch.
Fire officials also had called Clearlake Police for assistance with traffic control, as vehicles were trying to pass through the area where fire trucks – and, for a time, a Cal Fire helicopter – were parked on the roadway.
A Clearlake Police volunteer was posted at San Joaquin Drive and Carter Lane to keep the roadway clear.
The fire burned between five and seven acres, based on estimates from the Cal Fire pilots, Murch said.
While the blaze was contained within an hour, the late afternoon wind was cause for concern. Murch measured it at an average of 7 miles per hour, with gusts of up to 15 miles per hour. He also reported the temperature was 92 degrees at the scene.
Because of the wind, he estimated that mop up and monitoring would continue for another four to five hours.
No reason was given for the fire starting. No injuries were reported, and there were no reports of burned structures.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A new state report shows that the rate of smoking among California's adults has hit an all-time low, while Lake County's adult smoking rate is nearly twice the state average, which the county health officer called a “glaring problem.”
California Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ron Chapman issued the report late last week, drawing the data from the Centers for Disease Control’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.
The state's data showed that, in 2010, 11.9 percent of the state’s adults smoked, down from 13.1 percent in 2009.
Health officials said California was one of only two states to reach the federal Healthy People 2020 target of reducing the adult smoking prevalence rate to 12 percent.
“The drop in smoking means that fewer people will see their lives cut short by tobacco,” Chapman said. “Since the inception of California’s tobacco education efforts in 1990, we have witnessed declines in lung cancer, heart disease and other tobacco-related illnesses.”
While California has managed to reduce its smoking rates, Chapman said the state still has to continue its aggressive efforts.
“While we take great pride in seeing smoking decrease nearly 10 percent in just one year, smoking remains the number one preventable cause of death and disease, killing more than 400,000 Americans each year,” Chapman said.
In 2010, 14.4 percent of men and and 9.4 percent of women smoked in California, down from the previous year, when 15.6 percent of men and 10.7 percent of women smoked, the report stated.
The California Department of Public Health also reported that smoking rates declined among all age groups, with the most significant decrease occurring among adults ages 25 to 44, which fell from 15.2 percent in 2009 to 13.1 percent in 2010.
In Lake County, the state's findings regarding adult smokers were not as positive.
Among the county's estimated 51,000 adults, 10,000 people – or 20.1 percent – smoke, according to data the California Department of Public Health provided to Lake County News.
In neighboring Mendocino County, the state said that adult smokers total 12,000, or 17.6 percent of the population.
“Our smoking rates are not doing so well,” said Lake County Health Officer Dr. Karen Tait.
Those numbers are, however, better than the conclusion arrived at by the 2010 Lake County Community Health Needs Assessment.
That report, drawing on 2007 data from the California Health Interview Survey, showed that 14.5 percent of California adults smoked, compared to 25.9 percent of Lake County adults.
Comparing that data to the newest report, Tait said that while local smoking rates are still high, they may be showing a slight improvement.
“We may be following the trend but I think we're lagging, and we need to do much better,” Tait said.
The state also reported that smoking among high school students decreased from 14.6 percent in 2008 to 13.8 percent in 2010, while middle school student smoking decreased from 6.0 percent in 2008 to 4.8 percent in 2010. The 2010 youth smoking prevalence rate is taken from the biennial in-school California Student Tobacco Survey.
The state did not include specific numbers by counties on children who smoke, but Tait drew on data from www.kidsdata.org to offer a comparison between Lake County children who admitted smoking and the statewide numbers.
Between 2004 and 2008, children in Lake County who admitted smoking included 4.7 percent of seventh graders, 19 percent of ninth graders and 22.6 percent of 11th graders.
“I find that kind of alarming,” she said.
As for the reasons why Lake County's overall smoking rates are higher, Tait said both poverty and rural settings have been linked to higher smoking rates.
But as to why that is, Tait couldn't say.
“I haven't really heard a scientific explanation for that,” she said. “Some of us have speculated.”
Regarding children, Tait said young people sometimes engage in mind-altering behaviors – smoking among them – which she guesses is to address feelings they have. “But that is just speculation,” she added.
Tait said smoking is the No. 1 preventable risk factor for many diseases – including cancer and heart disease – so smoking cessation is something “that's well worth putting effort towards.”
However, there doesn't appear to be strong interest in smoking cessation in Lake County, according to Glenn Koeppel, who works in Lake Family Resource Center's Tobacco Education Program.
Koeppel said that, despite the fact that smoking is becoming more cost prohibitive, he's found that the worse off people are economically, the more they tend to continue to smoke.
He said he gets very low turnout at smoking cessation classes he leads. At one recent evening class in Lakeport – scheduled so people could make it after work – only one person showed up, and that individual wasn't able to finish the course.
“There doesn't even seem to be a desire in Lake County for people who want to quit,” Koeppel said.
While everyone knows the health challenges connected to smoking, “It doesn't seem to be much of a deterrent,” he said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
Selected for the 2011-12 panel include returning jurors Kathleen Bisaccio of Lakeport, Fred Christensen of Lakeport, Judith Stelljes of Kelseyville, Diane Trudeau of Cobb, Gerald Morehouse of Lucerne and Beryl Reeder of Clearlake; and new members Cheryl Engels of Middletown, Brockman Kreiss of Clearlake Oaks, Margaret Maloney of Kelseyville, Karen Miller of Kelseyville, Ken Montoya of Kelseyville, James Neil of Kelseyville, Janice Pankratz of Lakeport, Natalie Parsons of Upper Lake, Conrad Petersen of Kelseyville, William Quigley of Clearlake Oaks, John Sakowich of Lakeport, Gary Smades of Lakeport and Luther Sweigert of Clearlake.
Fred Christensen was appointed foreperson and the grand jury immediately went into session for the purpose of organization.
The 2010-11 grand jury was discharged after filing its final report earlier.
Along with Bisaccio, Christensen, Stelljes, Trudeau, Morehouse and Reeder, the former panel included Kevin Byrnes, Michael Daugherty, Kenneth Fountain, Jay Gehrke, Dave Johnson, Judith Steele Lanfranco, Nanette Marschall, Mary Moore, Phillip Myers, Mary Nolan and Jack Scialabba.
The major function of the Lake County Grand Jury is to examine county and city government and special districts to ensure that their duties are being lawfully carried out.
The grand jury reviews and evaluates procedures, methods, and systems utilized by these entities to determine whether more efficient and economical programs may be employed.
Grand jurors are officers of the court but work as an independent body.
A grand jury works to ensure that the best interests of all citizens of the county are being served by their governmental bodies.
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Joseph E. Litteral, 40, was identified as the fatal shooting victim, according to Capt. Kurt Smallcomb of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.
The incident was reported shortly before 8 p.m. Wednesday at space No. 8 at Bu Shay Campground in Redwood Valley, according to Smallcomb.
Litteral was transported to Ukiah Valley Medical Center where he died a short time later, Smallcomb said.
The second victim, a Willits man in his 20s whose name was not released, was flown via air ambulance to an out-of-county hospital for a single gunshot wound to the upper torso. Smallcomb said the man remained hospitalized on Thursday and was in stable condition, having suffered a fractured scapula from his gunshot injury.
Detectives are continuing to follow up leads in an effort to identify the suspects in the shooting, Smallcomb said.
Smallcomb said an autopsy of Litteral is scheduled for Friday.
Anyone who may have information into the shooting incident is encouraged to contact Mendocino County Sheriff's Office detectives at 707-467-9159.
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