Suspect in bludgeoning death of North Bay attorney had been detained hours before slaying
SANTA ROSA, Calif. - The Valley Ford community in rural Sonoma County is marked by lush green fields, rolling hills, and cows — a most unlikely spot for a homicide.
However, sheriff's investigators said this very town is where Michael Molland, 77, was bludgeoned to death on Nov. 16 by a suspect with a baseball bat.
Molland worked as an elder-law attorney, according to his LinkedIn profile.
He lived on an expansive property on Carroll Road, where his wife raised horses and the couple worked on their farm.
"He was kind. He would wave to you. You’d see him walking his dogs out, looked like a nice humble guy," said neighbor Sergio Dominguez.
The killing happened just two hours after sheriff’s deputies initially encountered the suspect at the Farmhouse Inn, a luxury boutique hotel in Forestville, where staff reported he had been acting erratically.
"He was harassing people at the hotel," said Ezra Wallach, who has been reporting on the case for the Sebastopol Times. "He at one point grabbed one of the employees, and people at the hotel reported that he was acting manic, he was asking the same questions over and over again."
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Deputies spent an hour with Adrian Yanez, 44, but let him go, said Misti Wood, a spokesperson for the sheriff's office.
"He had no warrants; he was not on probation. He did not qualify for a mental health hold; he was not determined to be under the influence, and there was no legal reason to arrest him or detain him any further," Wood said.
Later that same afternoon, Yanez showed up at Molland’s home, screaming outside, authorities said.
"The man, who turned out to be Yanez, ultimately broke down the door with a baseball bat" and used the bat to kill Molland, Wood said.
A motive is not known, and it is unclear whether the victim's job as an attorney was a factor. Yanez, who is from Fairfield, had few if any connections to Sonoma County, Wallach said.
Wallach spoke to a relative of the suspect, who was reported missing in Fairfield a day earlier by his family.
"He’s 1000 percent sure that Yanez had no prior contact with the victim," Wallach said.
The sheriff’s office said the outcome was tragic, but that the deputies did all they could at the time.
"We can’t predict crime," Wood said. "So we don’t know when somebody’s going to commit a crime or where that’s going to occur."
Loved ones and neighbors are left wondering why.
"When you think of getting brutally killed like that for, as of right now, no reason at all, it’s scary," Dominguez said.
Prosecutors have charged Yanez with murder and burglary.
He appeared in Sonoma County Superior Court on Monday, but the case was delayed until Dec. 18, when he may enter a plea.
Henry Lee is a KTVU crime reporter. E-mail Henry at Henry.Lee@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @henrykleeKTVU and www.facebook.com/henrykleefan.