The Kiwanis dont refer to hunting of rival members as big game hunting or small game hunting, Barry said. Outside of journalism, he doesn't do much. The motive, according to Hardisty, was Silvas increasingly erratic behavior that culminated with him threatening a Hells Angel in Boston during a large motorcycle event on the East Coast. Gohel also presented an alternative theory: that Hardisty was the one who shot Silva inside Silvas truck, which was later found burned in a remote part of Fresno County. During trial, ex-Richmond chapter Hells Angels member Joseph Hardisty testified for the prosecution that he held a meeting at his Antioch home where several club members, including Nelson, planned Silvas killing. We reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. Ott is accused of driving him to the clubhouse as part of the plot, and Nelson is accused of helping plan the murder, which a prosecution witness says never would have taken place without his authorization. Crime and Public Safety | He aspires to visit all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums.
He suggested that Robbie Huff, a fellow Hells Angel who went missing in February 2015, helped dispose of the body. He said Wendt later bragged about shooting Hardisty and that Ott and Silva drove to Fresno together in Otts truck the day that Silva was killed. Tesla removed speed limiter before teens fatal crash, is declared 1% responsible, California man admits role in $25 million fraud scheme that used bogus tax returns for pro athletes and PPP loans, 6 Turpin children suffered beatings, sexual abuse in California foster home, lawsuit alleges, 2 men accused in deadly California 7-Eleven spree tried to buy more ammo, prosecutors say, Before the East Bays last roller rink closes this month, the skating community says goodbye, This Alaskan teen hung out with Klay Thompson. 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FBI adds California slaying suspect to Top 10 fugitive list He said he was close friends with Silva and overwhelmed by guilt after the killing, leading to his decision to defect and testify. Why would Joseph Hardisty put the spotlight on a murder that he committed? Barry asked. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions. East Bay gunfire kills one in Antioch, wounds another The government is asking you to read tea leaves, said defense attorney Jai Gohel, who represents Nelson, and described the main prosecution witness as a proven liar who admitted on the stand that he told the FBI a false version of events that involved him being present for Silvas murder. Suspect in fatal shooting at Livermore bowling alley arrested Theyve also offered up an alternative theory, that Silva was murdered over a dispute involving marijuana trafficking, by a rogue Hells Angel who is now the prosecutions primary informant. 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SAN FRANCISCO After a two-month trial, a jury is set to decide the fate of three Hells Angels members accused of murdering a fellow club member who was later illegally cremated, a case largely based on the word of a dropout member who says he was recruited into the plot. Reach him at 925-779-7174. Prosecutor paints different picture of suspect in fatal 2014 California police shooting He asked, sarcastically, if Moose Lodge members kept stashes of guns and knives at their clubhouses like those found during police raids in the investigation. But the defense points out that Hardisty at first told FBI agents he was in Fresno, outside the clubhouse, when Silva was shot, then came clean and admitted to lying about that detail a short time later. Related Articles All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! The Lions dont worry about drive-by shootings at their clubhouse. He joined the Bay Area News Group in 2014. Crime and Public Safety | Barry called that theory absurd and questioned why there was no attempt to look for Silva after his disappearance, and why he never received an extravagant funeral that culminated with a large motorcycle run, like other prominent Hells Angels who die in good standing typically receive. In his final pitch to the jury, U.S. Attorney Kevin Barry mocked the defense notion that the Hells Angels were just a motorcycle club, not the criminal organization the prosecution has made them out to be. Crime and Public Safety | Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. Have we all been sitting through the same trial?: Jurors must choose between murder and self-defense in fatal Oakland shooting Jonathan Nelson, Russell Ott and Brian Wendt face charges of murdering Joel Silva, a sergeant-at-arms of the Sonoma Hells Angels who prosecutors contend was shot to death inside the biker gangs Fresno charter clubhouse and brought to a nearby funeral home for a clandestine cremation the following day. Crime and Public Safety |
Wendt is accused of personally shooting Silva in the back of the head as he bent down to grab bags of marijuana that had been used to lure him to Fresno. They also picked apart an FBI agents testimony that phone records put the defendants exactly where Hardisty said they were, calling it speculative and exaggerated. The three are among a dozen Hells Angels members charged as part of a 2017 racketeering case targeting Hells Angels from coast to coast but centered on Sonoma and Fresno. Crime and Public Safety | Nate Gartrell covers crime, politics, and corruption in Contra Costa County. Defense attorneys have responded by attacking the credibility of key prosecution witnesses, including FBI agents, and describing the case as the result of a biased probe by law enforcement desperate to take down the Hells Angels.