Two suspects in the murder of a man on Big Hill last week have been arrested, while a third remains at large.
The Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office released a statement Friday providing more details about the incident that was discovered the afternoon of March 15, including the identities of the victim and those accused of killing him.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, the body of 63-year-old Ben Lindsey was found about 3 p.m. March 15 by paramedics responding to a call for a man lying on the ground of his Calle Quartz Road home.
Detectives and the coroner were requested and suspected Lindsey’s death was a homicide. An autopsy later determined that he died of blunt force trauma, according to the statement released Friday.
Witnesses in the area also reported Lindsey’s Jeep had been missing “for a few days,” the Sheriff’s Office stated.
In addition to processing the scene and pursuing all available leads, detectives authored several search warrants, reviewed video surveillance footage, and spoke to “numerous” potential witnesses during the course of their investigation, the Sheriff’s Office stated.
“Detectives learned Lindsey’s neighbor and tenant, 63-year-old Jon Starkweather, had recently had his daughter, 28-year-old Sabrina Starkweather, and her boyfriend, 22-year-old Kasual McGuire-Meder, stay at his residence,” the statement released Friday said.
Over the following days, detectives also learned that McGuire-Meder had been arrested for an unrelated crime in Washoe County, Nevada, and arrested him March 17 at the Washoe County Jail on suspicion of murder, robbery, conspiracy and vehicle theft.
Public jail records available on the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office website showed that McGuire-Meder was booked into the jail March 16 on suspicion of possessing drug paraphernalia and being a fugitive from justice in another state.
Jon Starkweather was also arrested March 17 and booked into the Dambacher Detention Center in Sonora on suspicion of murder, conspiracy to commit a crime and robbery. Tuolumne County jail records listed the arrest location as a residence on the 13300 block of Calle Quartz Road.
Jon Starkweather was scheduled to be arraigned Friday in Tuolumne County Superior Court, but the hearing was continued to April 4, District Attorney Cassandra Jenecke said.
Sabrina Starkweather has an active warrant for murder and violation of probation.
Investigator Ashley Boujikian, spokeswoman for the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office, said Friday the agency would not answer questions or provide additional information about the case at this time to preserve the integrity of the investigation, which is still ongoing.
Anyone with information related to this case, or information on Sabrina Starkweather’s whereabouts, is urged to contact the Sheriff’s Office Investigations Division at (209) 533-5815.
