Four of the seven men involved in a local murder case await word on whether they will go to trial following hearings in Mendocino County Superior Court this week, according to the District Attorney’s spokesman, Mike Geniella.
The four defendants have been charged with the murder of 34-year-old Jeffrey Quinn Settler, who was found dead reportedly after a violent attack on the night of Nov. 11, 2016, on his property, where he had been growing commercial cannabis.
The seven men had been employed by Settler to trim the plants, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said during the investigation, and they had also been charged with stealing more than 100 pounds of processed marijuana from Settler.
A Virginia woman had initially been suspected in the investigation, but the MCSO later reported that Amanda Wiest, 26, had been kidnapped, along with a 4-year-old child. No kidnapping charge was mentioned by Geniella on Thursday.
Michael A. Kane, 26, of Pleasantville, NY; Frederick Gaestel, 27, of Illinois; Jesse Wells, 33, of Laytonville; and Gary Blank III, 34, of Garberville are the four who will be returning to court on Sept. 7 before Judge John Behnke, who will hear arguments on the matter of a murder trial. The men are being held in county jail without bail.
The remaining three men originally involved in the case took plea bargains on Monday, Geniella said, for the charge of first-degree robbery in connection with the homicide.
Zachary Ryan Wuester, 24, of New Jersey, and Gary Lynn Fitzgerald, 23, of Illinois, reportedly pleaded guilty to robbery, while Abdirahman Said Mohamed, 29, of San Diego, pleaded no contest. The three are also being held in county jail without bail.
All three men were given the same plea deal on the basis of their cooperation with authorities, as well as their pledges to testify during the trial, Geniella said.
The men reportedly agreed to serve nine years in a state prison, 85 percent of which – about seven-and-a-half years – to be served without the possibility of parole. They also agreed to waive any time spent in custody before sentencing, which has been delayed until after the trial, he said.
