Terre Logsdon – Record-Bee staff
CLEARLAKE ? The teenager accused of stabbing and killing a Clearlake man in March was back in court on Friday.
Bruce Emerson Wells, 17, of Clearlake, has been charged with the murder of 54-year-old Samuel Shull and will stand trial as an adult.
With his new attorney, Roy Miller, at his side on Friday, Wells pleaded not guilty to the first degree murder charge with a special enhancement for using a knife as a murder weapon.
According to a Clearlake Police Department report, Wells had been at the Shull residence at a party and was arrested after an investigation indicated that he had fatally stabbed Shull with a knife. The weapon was recovered at the scene.
Shull”s widow, Linda Rines-Shull, has said that Wells was asked to leave their home because he was seemingly drunk and had begun acting belligerently. The teen did leave, only to return within a few minutes and begin throwing rocks at the house, according to Rines-Shull.
Miller asked that Wells” $250,000 bail be lowered.
Judge Stephen Hedstrom asked that the probation office review the request.
The case will return to court on June 30, in Department 4, for bail review and setting a date for the preliminary hearing. Deputy District Attorney David McKillop is prosecuting the case.
Contact Terre Logsdon at tlogsdon@record-bee.com.
