The trial for two men accused of murdering Vietnam veteran Stan Norman will not take place this month, as the resignation of the case’s lead prosecutor has raised new challenges for the Nevada County District Attorney’s Office.
With the trial having already been rescheduled on three separate occasions, the 2018 homicide case had been reset for a July 27 trial date, with co-defendants Sean Bryant, 53, and Michael McCauley, 43, expected to face first-degree murder charges in connection with Norman’s death. Bryant also faces a torture charge. Both defendants have pleaded not guilty.
Last week, Chris Walsh the county’s former assistant district attorney, who had prosecuted the case since charges were originally filed against Bryant and McCauley in 2018 resigned, leaving it initially unclear which county prosecutor would take over the case. Jesse Wilson, who on Monday took office as the county’s new district attorney, said he is now handling the case.
A man accused last month of homicide in Nevada City pleaded not guilty Thursday, even as investigators are still working to identify a body in the case.
Russell Harvey Rippetoe, 57, from Barstow, is being charged by the Nevada County District Attorney’s Office with first-degree murder in the death of Raul Iturralde, 43. After entering his not guilty plea, Rippetoe’s next court date will be a conference on Aug. 5.
Rippetoe was arrested June 17 at a property on the 26000 block of North Bloomfield Road on suspicion of murder in the death of 43-year-old Iturralde.
Authorities had not located a body when they arrested Rippetoe, but after searching the property for two days, deputies with the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office found the body of an adult male who appeared to have been recently buried on the premises.
A Grass Valley man has been jailed after he allegedly beat a woman, doused her in gasoline, and acted as if he was going to burn her alive.
Garrett Hadley Stevens, 36, was arrested on the 17000 block of Lawrence Way early Saturday by Nevada County deputies on an outstanding felony warrant stemming from a June 11 domestic violence incident, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Stevens is charged with one felony count of torture, as well as a misdemeanor count of violating a restraining order, court records state.
The Nevada County District Attorney’s Office issued the arrest warrant for Stevens.
Stevens allegedly beat the woman, using a sock with a hard object in it as a weapon. She suffered some minor injuries from the assault, Assistant District Attorney Chris Walsh said.
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Zachery Isaiah Minissale, 34, from Nevada City, has been identified as a person of interest in the alleged homicide of Jessic Clayton Robiere, 30, a United Kingdom man who was living around Nevada County at the time of his death. Minissale was named in a press release put out Monday evening by the Eureka County Sheriff’s Office in Nevada.
Minissale died last week in a shootout with deputies, Eureka County has said.
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Also on Monday, authorities identified Raul Iturralde, 43, from Nevada City as the alleged victim in a separate homicide case. Russell Harvey Rippetoe, 57, has been formally charged with murder in connection with Iturralde’s death, after being arrested at a Nevada City address last week on suspicion of homicide.
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