Man charged in murder of California lobbyist parents arraigned in Placer County
Dennis Lynch tried to buy a weapon from a Loomis gun shop in the days before deputies discovered the bodies of his adoptive mother and her longtime partner, but was turned away, the store’s owner said.
“Looking at his demeanor, it looked like he was up to no good,” said Ed Gilbert, owner of EWG Guns in Loomis said of Lynch, 19, now being held on murder charges in the couple’s killings.
The 19-year-old Lynch was arraigned Wednesday on two counts of murder in the stabbing deaths of Kathy Lynch, 67, and 80-year-old Gerald Upholt — both of whom were brutally stabbed to death, according to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office.
Gilbert said a nervous Lynch walked into his shop wearing a knife on his hip. A truck that appeared to be Upholt’s was parked outside. Lynch wanted to purchase the weapon on a credit card, but Gilbert refused. The date was March 25, a Friday. Gilbert said he was disturbed enough by the encounter and by Lynch’s demeanor that he called Placer County sheriff’s deputies as soon as Lynch drove away. Once there, deputies scanned the store’s surveillance footage.
“He left me with an uneasy feeling,” Gilbert said. “In this business, it pays to be a good judge of character.”
The couple’s bodies were found three days later on March 28 inside their Lake Forest Drive home in Loomis. Deputies were called to the home after one of the couple’s employees said they had not heard from their employer.
Lynch’s Wednesday appearance in Placer Superior Court was his first since the grim discoveries that March Monday.
Lynch, appearing from the jail via video conference, entered not guilty pleas before Judge Colleen Nichols and denied the special allegations of using deadly and dangerous weapons in the slayings. He remains held without bail in Placer County custody.
Family members of the slain couple attended the brief hearing at Santucci Justice Center in Roseville, but did not speak with reporters.
The charges Lynch faces also include special allegations the slayings were committed while Lynch was out on bail or personal recognizance because he was facing felony charges involving allegations that he had stolen a Toyota forklift last November and a dirt bike in a separate incident in January.
Lynch also was facing a misdemeanor count of possessing paraphernalia for smoking a controlled substance, as well as a special allegation that he committed the dirt bike theft while on bail or his own recognizance from the November forklift incident
Placer deputies wounded the younger Lynch after authorities say he drew what turned to be a replica handgun and pointed it at them. But Lynch was well enough Wednesday to appear before Placer Superior Court Judge Colleen Nichols and a clutch of cameras for the morning arraignment.
Sacramento’s lobbying community mourned the shocking deaths of the couple who advocated on behalf of the bail bonds industry, hunting and gun rights and were familiar faces at the state Capitol.
Lynch is scheduled to return to court May 26.
This story was originally published April 13, 2022 at 9:54 AM.
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