Man arrested after 2 bodies found in pickup truck in Santa Cruz mountains
Suspect arrested in Santa Cruz Mountains double homicide
California Highway Patrol investigators arrested a suspect in connection with two bodies found in a truck along Highway 35 in the Santa Cruz Mountains in late March. Family members of one victim are speaking out, saying nothing the justice system can do will bring back their loved one.
LOS GATOS, Calif. - The California Highway Patrol arrested a 66-year-old Boulder Creek man after two bodies were found last month in the back of a pick-up truck along rural SR-35 in the Santa Cruz mountains near Los Gatos.
Sgt. Andrew Barclay said James David Collier was taken into custody on Sunday on two counts of murder.
His arrest stems from March 24, when CHP officers found an abandoned pickup with the bodies of two men inside. They had been shot to death the day before.
Victims were bound by rope
What we know:
Court records made public on Monday indicate the men were both bound by rope and a black 1988 Harley Davidson was placed on one of the men's bodies.
Those men were identified by the coroner as Colter White, 53, and Sean Pfeffer, 45.
"I lost a brother, my mom lost a son, I lost a brother. My niece and nephews lost their dad. And it is horrible," said Mink Perez, the sister of White.
"He was a wonderful husband and a better father. And this world is just not going to be the same without him," said Stacy White, Colter White's widow.
Rent dispute
Dig deeper:
According to the statement of facts, which redacted the victims' names, it appears as though Collier had been in a recent "escalating" conflict with at least one of the men over rent.
One of the victims, whose name was redacted, was trying to evict Collier from the property. Another woman also told police that she owned the property and wanted to evict Collier so she could sell it, but he was unwilling to leave, according to the statement of facts written by CHP Detective Joseph Espinoza.
During one of these fights, Collier had pulled out a shotgun and struck one of the victims with it, according to Espinoza's narrative.
Another witness told police that they saw Collier riding an ATV with a rifle on multiple occasions and did maintenance in the area.
The CHP did say that detectives identified Collier as the suspect on April 6 and were able to get a search warrant with help from the Santa Clara District Attorney's Office.
Collier had willingly come in for a police interview on April 2, but denied having any fights over the property, Espinoza's narrative states.
On April 16, Collier was drinking with a person whose name was redacted from the court records, and admitted to the killing, according to the CHP.
Collier was scheduled to be arraigned on Monday afternoon but that court appearance was delayed until Wednesday due to an unspecific conflict involving the public defender's office. New legal representation will be secured before Wednesday's rescheduled hearing.
He is being held in jail with no bail.
Earlier this month, friends and family of White said he was a "great guy" and that the second victim, Pfeffer, was a friend of White's.
"Colter was a great guy," said his friend, Janelle Sanford. "He was a great dad, he was a great husband, he was a great everything."
Sanford said White had previously been in trouble with the law but had been turning his life around.
"He was trying to do the right thing with the wrong people," she said. "Trying to get people to be righteous and do right."