Sacto 9-1-1

From Ed Fletcher:

A 21-year-old man was fatally shot Friday night in a North Highlands home, Sacramento County Sheriff's officials report.

Three men, all 24 years old, were detained in connection with the shooting, which took place in the 6700 block of Medora Drive, said Sgt. Tim Curran, Sheriff's Department spokesman.

Two of the men were roommates in the house and one was a visitor, Curran said.

"We believe that one of the three that we have detained is the shooter," Curran said.

Someone in the house called sheriff's officials at 7:15 p.m. and said his friend had been shot.

The victim, whose identity wasn't reported, suffered a single gunshot wound to the chest and was pronounced dead at the scene.

From Bee staff:

El Dorado County sheriff's officials are seeking information about a reported kidnapping and possible sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl in the Pollock Pines area.

Sheriff's deputies responded to the incident about 5 p.m. Thursday.

A department news release provided these details:

The victim reported that she had been walking along a local trail, when she was attacked by a man. The suspect dragged the victim off the trail and attempted to sexually assault the victim. The victim was able to fight off her attacker and flee.

The victim provided this description of the suspect: white male adult in his late 20s, 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing 180 pounds, medium to muscular build, short straight brown hair, light complexion, with a reddish goatee beard. The suspect was wearing dark tight-fitting pants and a long-sleeve red/black checkered shirt.

Officials said the suspect was not found after an extensive search of the area.

The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office is asking anyone with information about the incident to call (530) 621-6600.

From Ed Fletcher:

A Roseville man was sentenced to two years in state prison after he broke into an occupied Roseville home on Coloma Way during the early morning hours of Sept. 5 and began cooking breakfast, authorities report.

The homeowner noticed the intrusion about 1:45 a.m. as Mejia began exploring the home.

The fact that Mejia didn't make off with anything is irrelevant said, Art Campos, a spokesman for the Placer County District Attorney's office.

"When you break into someone's house, its burglary," Campos said. "We don't know if he was there to steal anything."

Mejia's bizarre behavior didn't end there.

Twenty minutes later, another homeowner awoke to find Mejia in her Audrey Way sunroom.

The homeowner immediately called the police, Campos said. When they arrived they found a chair on fire.

Mejia was arrested and plead no contest to two counts of residential burglary.

From Kim Minugh:

A Sacramento police officer was arrested this morning on suspicion of felony domestic violence and brandishing his service weapon during an argument with his girlfriend, according to authorities.

Bryan David Weinrich (left photo), a 23-year-old patrol officer who works downtown, was booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail at 11 a.m. and has since been released, according to jail booking records. He was booked on suspicion of domestic violence, brandishing a firearm, kidnapping and false imprisonment - all felonies.

Galt police Lt. Jim Uptegrove said the charges stem from an argument that began Wednesday night at the couple's Galt home and lasted through Thursday. Weinrich's girlfriend called police at 11:30 p.m. Thursday, Uptegrove said.

Sacramento Police Department spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong confirmed that Weinrich is an officer with that department and said he has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the case.

"We take the allegations seriously and we'll be conducting a concurrent internal investigation," Leong said.

That internal investigation will determine what, if any, administrative policies were broken while also monitoring the Galt Police Department's criminal investigation, Leong said. He said it's too early to say what would happen to Weinrich if he were found guilty of the allegations against him.

Uptegrove said Galt police officers arrived at the couple's home Thursday night and the girlfriend told them that Weinrich had "physically shoved her down" and brandished his service weapon when they'd fought the day before.

Uptegrove said officers found physical evidence of injury on the woman, but she did not need medical attention.

She also told officers that Weinrich left their home that night, and the couple patched things up when he returned the next morning, Uptegrove said. At some point Thursday, they drove together to a home Weinrich owns in Roseville and began arguing again during the drive, the lieutenant said.

Several times, the girlfriend told police, she tried to get out of the car when they were stopped at an intersection, but Weinrich "held on to her and wouldn't let her leave," Uptegrove said.

Weinrich eventually let go and she left, Uptegrove said. She told officers that she walked to his Roseville home, and the couple returned together to Galt. Weinrich left some time before his girlfriend called police and officers arrived, Uptegrove said.

Galt officers contacted Roseville police, who reached Weinrich at his home there and arrested him about 3 a.m., Uptegrove said.

The domestic violence charge stems from the allegation that Weinrich pushed his girlfriend to the ground, Uptegrove said. The kidnapping and false imprisonment charges stem from the allegation that he would not let her leave the car when she tried, according to the lieutenant.

Uptegrove said Galt police had never before been called to the couple's home.

Booking records indicate Weinrich is scheduled to appear in court Monday.

Weinrich is the son of decorated police Sgt. Steve Weinrich, who is still with the department. The elder Weinrich was shot in the thigh in 1999 as he and other officers tried to arrest a parolee wanted in connection with a 35-day crime spree that included two murders.

That parolee, David Scott Daniels, was taken into custody and eventually was convicted of the two murders and the attempted murder of Weinrich, whose badge was cut by a bullet. In 2001, Daniels was sentenced to death by lethal injection.

From Bill Lindelof:

Sacramento police officials report that an elderly man who suffers from Alzheimer's disease has been located and is doing well.

Antonio Garcia, 79, who was last seen at 4:30 p.m. Thursday raking leaves in his front yard of his North Sacramento home, was found Friday, officials said.

From Kim Minugh:

Fire damaged a Del Paso Heights apartment Thursday evening, according to authorities.

No residents of the North Avenue complex were injured in the 5 p.m. blaze, said Sacramento fire Capt. Jim Doucette. One firefighter, however, might have suffered a fractured arm when he fell while battling the fire.

Firefighters arrived at the complex to find a downstairs unit engulfed in flames that were threatening the upstairs apartment, Doucette said. Crews extinguished the fire within minutes.

Doucette said the fire mostly was kept to the kitchen. Investigators believe the fire might have started by the stove and oven, Doucette said.

The lone occupant of the apartment was offered housing assistance from the American Red Cross, Doucette said.

By Bill LIndelof

A robber in Woodland made off with an undisclosed amount of cash and scratch-off lottery tickets this morning.

Woodland police said that a man wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and a mask held up the clerk at the AM/PM at 313 Main St. at about 3:30 a.m.

After the stick-up, instead of calling 911, the clerk called the store owner, delaying police response. Police eventually learned that the robber pointed a black, semi-automatic handgun at the clerk.

The clerk filled a plastic bag with a cash and another bag with the lottery tickets. The robber fled the store on foot.

From Kim Minugh:

Paul Sousa found himself Thursday night where he never thought he'd be: Sober, out of prison, telling a group of people about his "transformed" life - and thanking two police officers for their service.

Had anyone ever told the once-rebellious man with a "hatred" for authority that he'd do such a thing, he said, he would've told them, "You are high."

But on Thursday night, Sousa, who was celebrating his graduation from the Bishop Francis Quinn Cottages program, credited Sacramento police officers Mark Zoulas and Michael Cooper for being among the people who "saved me from myself."

Then the convicted felon with a new life handed a certificate to the two officers and embraced them.

Cooper and Zoulas (pictured left and right, respectively, in a 2007 Bee file photo), known by many as "Batman and Robin," were recognized at the graduation for their longtime work with Sacramento's homeless community. They were chosen to be award recipients by people graduating from the Quinn Cottages program, which helps once-homeless individuals find work, stable housing and sobriety, said Robert Tobin, president and chief executive officer of the umbrella Cottage Housing organization.

"Your compassionate professionalism brings a sense of safety, justice and civility to the streets of Sacramento and those living on them," reads a certificate given to the veteran officers.

The officers, in turn, lauded the program's graduates.

"You've become an example to us of what every human being can become," Zoulas told the crowd. "We need to double our efforts to find more housing and more programs" for the homeless, he said.

His longtime partner until recently, Cooper, said the recognition was an honor.

"If we've done anything to help people who come here ... then our careers have been successful," he said.

Zoulas is a 28-year veteran of the force and began working in the downtown area in January 2000. Cooper, a 19-year veteran, began working with Zoulas in 2003 but recently returned to patrol. While a team, the pair focused their efforts on the homeless community, separating what they refer to as "the sheep from the wolves" and working closely with advocacy groups.

The team has earned much praise from community groups over the years, and Zoulas said the recognition reminds them that their work can, and does, make a difference.

"It helps you take your job much more seriously, and try a little harder," he said. "It really does blow your mind to see how many people you've impacted."

From Hudson Sangree:

Rocklin police announced Thursday that a DNA match had led to an arrest in an alleged sexual assault that occurred nearly two years ago.

A news release provided these details:

On Jan. 1, 2008, officers responded in the early morning hours to a report of a sexual assault in the 5400 block of Quane Road.

The alleged victim, 27, was a man who had come to a party there on New Years Eve and decided to spend the night. He said he was fast asleep, when a man woke him up while sexually assaulting him.

The suspect had also been at the party and lived in the neighborhood, police said.

Detectives obtained DNA samples from both men, but the samples weren't processed until earlier this month.

A match led to the arrest of Ladd Douglass Wildenen (top left photo), 41, for suspicion of sexual assault and oral copulation, both felonies.

He was booked into the Placer County Jail, with bail set at $150,000.

From Hudson Sangree:

Authorities announced Thursday they had discovered a methamphetamine laboratory and made three arrests at an apartment complex in north Davis.

According to a news release, the operation began as an investigation of a parolee selling drugs by the Yolo Narcotics Enforcement Team, a multi-agency task force.

About 6 p.m. Wednesday, officers arrested Brandon Lee Whitmore, 34, of Davis, as he tried to flee in his vehicle.

Officers searching Whitmore's apartment on Alvarado Avenue found loaded guns and a meth lab, according to the release. Teams were called in to safely remove it, and the apartment was deemed uninhabitable.

They arrested two other suspects: Carrissa Nicolay, 28, of West Sacramento and Carrissa Dawson, 24, of Woodland, the release said.

From Andy Furillo

A motorist who crashed into a motorcycle rider and left him dying in the street last year is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 18 in Sacramento Superior Court.

William Lyons, 56, is facing a term of 12 years and eight months for felony hit and run, misdemeanor manslaughter and driving with a suspended license.

Lyons pleaded out to the charges last week in connection with the Aug. 25, 2008, death of Mike Winnett.

A popular blues harmonica player and recovering drug addict who had devoted his life to helping others get clean, Winnett, 46, was killed when Lyons - a long time offender with several previous felony convictions - ran a stop sign on Aug. 24, 2008, and hit Winnett's motorcycle at Madison Avenue and Lincoln Oaks Drive.

From Andy Furillo

Two convicted Sacramento murderers have been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole.

Curtis Level Chapman, 21, and Richard Antonio Hundley, 20, received the terms from Sacramento Superior Court Judge Patrick Marlette on Monday for the Nov. 26, 2006, robbery and shooting death of David Joshua Barreda Jr., 33.

Marlette sentenced Chapman to an additional 25-to-life term for use of a firearm.

According to prosecutors, Barreda, a Vallejo resident, was robbed and killed at a house in unincorporated south Sacramento where the defendants had been staying. Barreda went to the house to visit a woman he had met on the Internet, his father said.

A third defendant in the case, Tammy Renee Turney, 49, is scheduled for trial on Jan. 21.

Editor's note: This is another report in an occasional series on unusual events or people found by The Bee's police reporters and editors.

From Kim Minugh

The Sacramento Police Department got a little national exposure Wednesday night as late-night talk show host David Letterman poked some fun at an (obviously off-duty) officer sitting in his audience.

Well, at least we think it's Sac PD that got the attention. The officer has yet to be identified, and will here on out be referred to as the Mystery Cop.

Letterman began the running joke early in his monologue, as he laughed about a clear curtain on his set that appears to have little function. He said the guy who sold show officials the curtain must have been a real scam artist, and quipped, "Thank God we've got the police looking into it!" as a cameraman panned to a smiling man in the audience.

A few minutes later, Letterman threw in a random reference to the officer, saying "This next item will make you wish you were a cop in Sacramento," prompting laughter from the audience. He went on to talk about scientists who have found evidence of heart disease in 3,000-year-old mummies.

The camera panned to Mystery Cop - who at this point appeared good-natured but a tad embarrassed. House band leader Paul Shaffer rubbed it in, exclaiming "There he is!"

Come forward, Mystery Cop! We'd love to hear about your experience.

Letterman's monologue can be viewed below.

From Kim Minugh

Sacramento police arrested a 39-year-old parolee-at-large Wednesday night after he allegedly tried to light a north Sacramento convenience store clerk on fire during a robbery.

Richard Guy Hamilton was booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail early this morning on suspicion of assault and robbery as well as violating the terms of his parole, according to booking records. He is ineligible for bail.

About 7:40 p.m., a suspect entered a store on the 3600 block of Marysville Boulevard and squirted lighter fluid on the clerk, threatening to light him on fire if he didn't hand over cash, said police Sgt. Norm Leong.

The suspect then grabbed a lighter from the front counter and tried to ignite the soaked clerk, but was unsuccessful - the lighter needed to be filled with lighter fluid, Leong said. He ran out of the store, without any cash in hand, after another customer scared him off, the sergeant said.

The suspect fled in a waiting vehicle, and witnesses were able to provide police with a partial license plate number and a description of the suspect. Just before 4 a.m., officers spotted a car and driver matching those descriptions in the area of Marysville and Los Robles boulevards, Leong said.

The driver of that car was detained, but ruled out as a suspect. He told officers he had borrowed the car from a parolee-at-large named Richard Hamilton, who was at a nearby home and also matched the description of the assault suspect, Leong said.

Officers located and arrested Hamilton. In a lineup, witnesses positively identified Hamilton as the assailant, Leong said.

Bee Staff

A juvenile threw a knife and tried to fire arrows at Woodland police officers and then challenged police to shoot him before he was subdued without injury, according to a Woodland PD news release.

The release gave this account:

At about 11:51 p.m. on Wednesday, police received a call from the mother of a 15-year-old male, who allegedly was intoxicated, out of control, and vandalizing their Eaton Court residence.

A second caller told police that the suspect, whose name is being withheld due to his age, was now breaking windows at the residence. According to the mother, who left the home and was at a neighbor's house, there was nobody else in the residence with the suspect.

Police arrived to find the suspect still in his home, throwing and breaking items, including windows, and yelling and screaming.

Police noticed drops of blood near the entryway of the home and fire and ambulance personnel were staged near the area as a precautionary measure.

Police made repeated attempts to communicate with the suspect, who threw a knife toward the broken-out front window and toward officers. The suspect then armed himself with a bow and arrow, which caused police to quickly retreat to positions of cover.

The suspect twice attempted to fire arrows from the bow but the arrows did not make it out of the house.

The suspect did not respond to police efforts to communicate with him.

At about 12:42 am, the suspect walked out of his home with his hands in the air, but still acting "very aggressive" toward police. The suspect yelled, "Shoot me," several times to police while walking directly toward one of the officers who was giving the suspect commands to get on the ground.

The officer yelled several more times for the suspect to get on the ground but the suspect ignored the commands and continued to advance on the officer, yelling and screaming at him. The officer fired his TASER stun gun, which immediately brought the suspect to the ground.

The suspect was handcuffed and then placed in a WRAP device, which helped to immobilize the suspect's body during transport in a police vehicle. The suspect was transported to the Woodland Memorial Hospital for a pre-booking medical clearance, and then transported to the Yolo County Juvenile Hall, where he was booked on several felony charges.

The only injuries sustained by the suspect were those caused by himself when he broke out the windows of the home, police said. No officers were injured during the incident.

Q: Does the Sacramento Police Web site provide a timely listing of all crime reports? I would like to know the specific location (or at least the street name) of the recent rash residential burglaries reported in my neighborhood. - Boogieman, Sacramento

A: You can find daily reports from Sacramento police officers at this site (this is not every call for service but it is the closest to what you want. The freshest information is about 24 hours old):

http://www.sacpd.org/dailyactivity/

The Bee, television and radio stations and other media use these reports as a tip service to find interesting stories.

For a complete list of questions answered by Sacto911, click here.

Bee Staff

A man who chased his ex-girlfriend into her Davis apartment, shot and killed her friend and then shot her several times through the heart in 1980 lost his bid for parole this week, according to Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig.

Daniel Wehner was denied parole by the full panel of eleven commissioners of the Board of Parole Hearings, Reisig said in a news release.

Wehner was 26 when he killed Robin Ehlman, 20, and her friend John Manville. In 2006, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger overturned a decision to parole Wehner, saying the details of the "terrifying incident" indicate Wehner is too dangerous to be released from prison, The Bee reported.

Wehner had been stalking Ehlman and physically abused her during their relationship, causing her to lose consciousness after choking her on at least one occasion, Reisig said.

On June 19, 1981, Wehner was sentenced to 27 years to life for the murders, Reisig said.

A court appointed psychiatrist interviewed Wehner's family prior to the sentencing hearing, Reisig said.

Family members described him as "irresponsible," having an "explosive temper," and "violent." "He had a winning personality and charmed older people but had not an ounce of sincerity." Wehner's family described Robin as "soft and gentle," Reisig said.

Reisig gave this account of the events leading up to the decision to not parole Wehner:

At a Sept. 10 parole hearing, the two commissioners were unable to agree on whether or not to give Wehner a parole date. This split decision resulted in a hearing this week before the full panel.

A heavy hitter lineup spoke against Wehner's release at the hearing.

Those included two of John Manville's sisters; Robin Ehlman's father, younger sister and niece; Assistant Chief Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Raven; Davis Police Chief Landy Black; and District Attorney Investigator John Updergraff who was a Davis police officer on his first week on the job at the time of the murders.

Police Chief Black said that Wehner's "release will do nothing but raise the fears of citizens seeking the solace of peace, order, and justice in their communities and will only degrade their sense that justice prevails."

Investigator Updergraff recalled these murders as being the most gruesome he has seen in over 30 years of law enforcement. When he arrived at the apartment, Manville was not yet dead. The man's dying sounds left an indelible impression on him, he said.

Robin Ehlman's younger sister Tracy Haynes told the commissioners: "It is too late to save my sister Robin or John even though we desperately tried. Now it is about protecting my own children and society. You have no idea the type of individual you are dealing with but I do. Please don't let us down again. Let's learn from our mistakes the first time around and keep the rest of my family, especially my children, and the rest of society safe from Mr. Wehner."

Reisig said that "We will continue to do everything we can to support the Ehlman and Manville families."

Wehner will be eligible for parole consideration again in three years, Reisig said.

Q: What happened to the suspects in the September or October 1993 shooting or stabbing death of by a man that was set up by the son of the victim's girlfriend? - Bob, Sacramento

A: On Sept. 25, 1993, Apolinar Martinez, 28, was stabbed eight or nine times and shot once in the head after assailants jumped him, gagged him and bound him with duct tape when he entered his Natomas apartment, The Bee reported.

Martinez's attackers included his girlfriend's son, who was angry because he believed Martinez had beaten her, police said.

However, the girlfriend had not filed police complaints against Martinez in the past, records showed.

The girlfriend's son, Marcos Gonzalez, then 21, was convicted of murder and given a 15-years-to-life sentence on Feb. 24, 1995, Sacramento Superior Court records show.

Jesus Orona, then 18, was convicted of murder and sentenced to 25-years-to-life in prison on June 12, 1997, court records show.

Francisco Orona, then 19, pleaded no contest to a murder charge and was sentenced to 15-years-to-life in prison on Sept. 6, 1996, court records show.

The Bee did not report the relationship, if any, between the Orona suspects.

A 21-year-old man and a 17-year-old youth boy also were arrested in the case. The Bee could not find any records indicating that those two were ever charged in the case.

For a complete list of questions answered by Sacto911, click here.

The California Department of Corrections is seeking four suspects -- (photos, from left) Joseph Dewitt, David Mario Guerrero, Peter Martinez and William Montgomery -- wanted on no-bail felony warrants for reportedly violating their parole, Sacramento Crime Alert officials report.

DeWitt, also known as Joe Dewitt, Michael Dewitt and Nelson Dewitt, is described as age 44, 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighing 205 pounds with black hair and brown eyes and tattoos on his left arm and left shoulder. According to authorities, he was last known to live in the 9900 block of Lincoln Village Drive in Rancho Cordova.

Guerrero, who has tattoos on his chest and left and right arms, is described as age 35, 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighing 270 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. According to authorities, he was last known to live in the 4500 block of 65th Street in the Tahoe Park area of Sacramento.

Martinez, also known as Arthur Selgado, is described as age 42, 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighing 230 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. Considered armed and dangerous, he was last known to live in the 2100 block of 57th Avenue in the Golf Course Terrace area of Sacramento, officials said.

Montgomery, also considered armed and dangerous, is described as age 46, 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing 156 pounds with blond hair and hazel eyes. He has scars on forehead, left arm, left and right eyes, and tattoos on his abdomen, back, right arm and upper right arm, authorities report.

He is a transient who was last known to live in the Sacramento area, officials said.

Anyone with information about Dewitt, Guerrero, Martinez or Montgomery is urged to contact Crime Alert at (800) AA-CRIME or (916) 443-HELP. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.

From Kim Minugh

A 24-year-old woman who worked as a dental office manager in Roseville will serve a year in jail for embezzling more than $47,000 from the business and its patients, according to the Placer County District Attorney's office.

Holly Ann Keate (photo left) of Rocklin also must serve five years of probation and pay back the embezzled money, a judge ordered last week, according to a news release from the DA's office.

In September, Keate pleaded no contest to a charge of grand theft by embezzlement, the release states.

Keate embezzled the money between Aug. 15, 2008 and Jan. 22, 2009. Her former employer, Dr. Thomas Schlehofer, wrote in a letter to the judge that Keate deceived people "with her power of authority over patients," according to the news release, and "abused her managerial position with malicious neglect of patients, their personal files, their credit cards and their cash."

She also preyed on senior citizens without insurance, Schlehofer wrote to the judge, according to the release.

Keate used the money for vacations, laser treatment and elective plastic surgery, the release states. She was arrested at Sacramento International Airport just before boarding a plane headed for Hawaii.

From Kim Minugh

The folks at America's Most Wanted are giving due credit to federal officials and Sacramento police officers - and their "canine heroes" - after picking up a suspect wanted for three Berkeley murders who's been on the lam since May.

They did so after taking a jab at the suspect himself, who, the AMW folks point out, apparently didn't have the smarts to stay underground after his mug was plastered over national television earlier this month.

"You'd think since he appeared on AMW, triple-murder suspect Rafael Campbell should've laid low," states text posted on the AMW Web site. "However, he couldn't outrun the efforts of a large task force and two canine heroes when they tracked him down in Sacramento, Calif."

In May, the 25-year-old Campbell and three other suspects allegedly gunned down 25-year-old C.J. Davis and slammed their getaway car into two more victims. Killed were 26-year-old Todd Perea and 41-year-old Floyd Ross, according to the AMW Web site, the details of which were confirmed by federal officials Tuesday.

The violence apparently stemmed from a dispute between Campbell's gang, "N.S.O." or "North Side Oakland," and a member of Davis' family, investigators said.

A fugitive task force including U.S. Marshals, assisted by Sacramento police officers, went to an apartment complex in Natomas on Tuesday in search of Campbell. When he found out the authorities had come calling, Campbell jumped from a balcony and took off through a nearby field, Sacramento police said. It was his second fast break from the law in a week: He apparently outran the task force in Hayward last week, jumping from a balcony, scaling a razorwire fence and disappearing, according to authorities.

This time, though, Campbell didn't get far. Sacramento police K9s Angus and Sonic caught up to him, ending a six-month manhunt. He was taken into custody without further trouble - and with a couple dog bites, police said.

For more details, click here.

From Bill Lindelof:

The Yolo County District Attorney announced his office will receive nearly $300,000 from the federal government to fight child pornography.

The DA will get $290,180 over two years for computer equipment and to pay for an investigator.

District Attorney Jeff Reisig welcomed the grant, especially in light of Yolo County's tight budget.

"We now have the resources to focus our efforts on the source -- those who make, distribute and receive these horrendous images," said Reisig in a press release.

From Bill Lindelof:

Sacramento police have arrested a man in connection with a homicide over the weekend in Oak Park.

Police arrested Eugene Edward Walls Jr., 35, of Sacramento on suspicion of shooting Shedrick Letronn Cotton, 35, of Union City on Saturday night.

Sacramento police officials said Cotton's body was found on the front lawn of a house in the 4000 block of 32nd Street about 11:15 p.m., about 10 minutes after officers were alerted to shots fired in the area.

Cotton suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Detectives said there was a loud party going on nearby, but it was not known if the party was related to the shooting.

Sacramento police said this morning that a search warrant executed as part of the homicide investigation at Walls' residence resulted in the discovery of ammunition. Walls was prohibited from having ammunition because of a prior conviction.

Walls was stopped Tuesday at Fruitridge Road and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and arrested on suspicion of being a felon in possession of the ammunition. After additional police work, detectives added suspicion of homicide charges and booked Walls into Sacramento County Jail.

Bee Staff

From Roseville to Sacramento to Elk Grove, law enforcement officers are warning motorists that enforcement of seat-belt laws will be strict this month.

The Click It or Ticket campaign will be Nov. 17-30, numerous agencies have announced.

Officers will be out in force looking for anyone - driver, passenger or child - not properly restrained, they warned.

More than 175 local law enforcement agencies statewide and the CHP will be participating in this year's Click It or Ticket mobilization.

Funding to support California's Click It or Ticket campaign was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

From Kim Minugh

A man suspected of killing three men during a violent spree in Berkeley earlier this year - and featured on "America's Most Wanted" TV show earlier this month - was arrested today in Natomas, according to authorities.

With the help of Sacramento Police Department officers and K9s, U.S. marshals took Rafael J. Campbell, 25, into custody at an apartment complex on Natomas Central Drive, according to officials from both agencies.

It's unclear why Campbell was in the Sacramento area, said Lenny Boyer, acting U.S. marshal for eastern California.

Berkeley police have been searching for Campbell since May, when he and three other suspects allegedly took three lives in a matter of minutes, according to the America's Most Wanted Web site. Boyer confirmed the details of the show's Web site.

The violence began when Campbell and another suspect allegedly fatally shot 25-year-old CJ Davis in Berkeley. The two suspects fled in a car with two other unidentified suspects, and, after leading officers on a seven-minute pursuit, crashed into a motorist and a pedestrian, according to the show's Web site. Killed in the collisions were 26-year-old Todd Perea and 41-year-old Floyd Ross.

Campbell and the other three suspects are members of the "N.S.O." - or North Side Oakland - gang and apparently killed Davis, the first victim, while trying to retaliate against a member of Davis' family, investigators said.

Campbell is wanted on three counts of murder, investigators said.

For more details, click here.

From Andy Furillo

A Sacramento Superior Court jury has found Daniel Ray Poplin Jr. guilty of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of his girlfriend's fetus.

The jury returned the verdict on Friday against the 32-year-old defendant for the Dec. 31 stabbing in which he killed the 27-week-old fetus.

Deputy District Attorney Noah Phillips said that Poplin stabbed his pregnant girlfriend in the abdomen with a butcher knife because he thought she had been impregnated by another man.

Judge Greta Curtis Fall scheduled Poplin's sentencing for Dec. 11.

From Andy Furillo

A judge today sentenced Tyrone Adam Palmer to 22 years and four months to life in prison for running a car with three teenaged girls off the road two years ago, killing one, leaving a second in a persistent vegetative state and severely injuring the third.

Palmer (photo bottom right), who was convicted of second-degree murder last month by a Sacramento Superior Court jury, tearfully apologized to the mother of Kailey McGagin (teen at far right in photo at bottom), the 17-year-old girl who died in the Oct. 13, 2007, hit-and-run on Winding Way in Carmichael, but then told Judge David De Alba that he never knew the girls' car crashed.

The apology came when Kailey's sobbing mother, Erin McGagin, told the court that "I just want him to remember" what he did," to which Palmer turned around and sobbingly replied, "I'll never forget. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about it. I'm so sorry."

The defendant's apology at first prompted Deputy District Attorney Steve Grippi to tell the court that "I give Mr. Palmer and lot of credit" and that "I respect" the defendant for what appeared to be a heart-felt remark.

"It's something a lot of victims never get to see or hear," Grippi said.

Then, when the judge asked Palmer if there was anything he wanted to say directly to the court, the defendant sought to profess his innocence to the murder conviction, saying "I never saw them crash" and that he wasn't aware that anybody died until he heard it on the TV news the next day.

"It happened behind me," Palmer said.

As soon as Palmer finished, the prosecutor told De Alba, "I spoke too soon about my respect for Mr. Palmer. He came back to the same resounding theme that it's not his fault," Grippi said.

The prosecutor said that a friend of Palmer's rebutted the claim that he didn't know anything about the crash that he told the friend about it that night before it was ever on the news.

Grippi said Palmer's friend told investigators that the defendant commented that the girls "were screwing with him and they got into a wreck or something."

"For him to make this statement now is hard to take," Grippi said.

Palmer, 40, gave chase to the girls' car after one of them threw an egg at him while he was in the process of stealing a license plate off a utility trailer. The girls had just dropped off a friend at her Carmichael residence in the pre-dawn hours after a night of partying and drinking.

Seychelle Curry (middle teen in photo), the driver of the car, was left in a comatose state as a result of the crash. The other passenger in the car, Valerie Schmidt (teen at left in photo), now 19, sustained two broken legs and severe facial cuts.

Q: What happened to the man who used a hammer to kill a UCD doctor in the hospital restroom in 1985? Anonymous, Sacramento

Jeffrey Gerard Jones is on death row, according to state Corrections Department records.

Jones, now 50, received the death sentence for two fatal hammer attacks in Sacramento and Davis restrooms in 1985, apparently believing doctors had implanted a drill bit in his ear that made him hear voices.

Dr. Michael Corbett and Harry Dong died after Jones bludgeoned them in men's rooms at the Sacramento Medical Center and Sutter's Fort, respectively. A third man was partially paralyzed after an attack at the Medical Center.

Jones also confessed to the hammer slaying of Fred Morris in a University of California, Davis, restroom and was given an additional sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole.

Jones had a history of mental treatment for paranoid, but was found competent to stand trial.

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