Settler homicide trial delayed as legislation awaits Gov.’s signature

UKIAH, CA., 9/24/18 — It has been almost two years since the killing of Jeffrey Settler on his Laytonville cannabis farm, and of the seven suspects initially charged with some involvement in his death, three have accepted plea deals, and four still remain in the Mendocino County jail awaiting trial on charges of homicide and robbery. The trial for the homicide and armed robbery case was previously scheduled to begin in Mendocino County Superior Court on September 17, but jury selection is now set to begin October 1. The proceedings have been delayed, and may be further complicated, by a bill which currently awaits a decision on Governor Jerry Brown’s desk.

Settler, a 35 year old father and cannabis farmer, originally from Lubbock, Texas, was found brutally stabbed to death near his cannabis garden on November 11, 2016. A nearly five month long manhunt ensued for seven suspects, the most of whom had been employed on Settler’s farm and were also accused of a theft of 100 pounds of Settler’s cannabis. Three of the defendants, Zachary Wuester, Gary Fitzgerald, and Abdirahman Said Mohamed, subsequently accepted plea deals in exchange for their testimony, in which they accepted felony charges of forcible robbery in the first degree to serve up to nine years. The remaining defendants, Michael Kane, Frederick Gaestel, Jesse Wells, and Gary Blank, are currently scheduled to go to trial.