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Thread: Robin Glen James Gets 25 Years to Life in 2011 CA Murder of Police Officer Robert McElrath

  1. #1
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    Robin Glen James Gets 25 Years to Life in 2011 CA Murder of Police Officer Robert McElrath






    Arrests Made In Death of Susanville Police Officer

    Two people are in custody in Lassen County, arrested in connection with the death of a Susanville Police officer found dead Sunday near a railroad trestle.

    Joanna McElrath and Robin Glen James, are being charged with murder in the death of Robert McElrath, 37, of Susanville. The body of Robert McElrath was found Sunday just before 11 am. in the Devil's Corral area.

    It was confirmed that Joanna McElrath was Robert McElrath's wife. Police also said James is her boyfriend. The two are in custody and have been denied bail.

    Officials say the investigation is ongoing and more information will be released when possible.

    Susanville Police Chief Jeffrey D. Atkinson posted an online statement about the death of Officer McElrath:

    The Susanville Police Department is extremely saddened by the passing of Officer Robert McElrath who began with our agency in 2003, first as a Reserve Police Officer than becoming a regular officer in 2006. Prior to his employment with our agency, Rob was employed by the Lassen County Sheriff’s Department as a Correctional Officer and later as a Deputy Sheriff. Rob was an important part of our police department family and we will miss him greatly. Rob was always quick with a smile and his positive attitude made our department a better place. We are grateful to our fellow law enforcement agencies and citizens of our community for all of the support shown to us in this most difficult time. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

    http://www.krcrtv.com/news/26388819/detail.html

  2. #2
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Officer's slaying troubles Susanville

    The New Year's Day killing of police Officer Robert McElrath casts a pall over this prison and ranching community on the Sierra Nevada's eastern flank.

    McElrath's body was found Jan. 2 in a remote, snowy area about seven miles outside town. The 37-year-old had been shot in the face and thrown from a bridge that crosses the Susan River, authorities said.

    Prosecutors contend that the officer's wife, Joanna McElrath, 36, and her boyfriend Robin James, 46, a convicted felon, drugged and drove him to the spot. They used his own gun to kill him, authorities said.

    The pair were arrested Jan. 6 and pleaded not guilty Monday to murder and conspiracy charges that could carry the death penalty. They are being held without bail.

    The officer's funeral is scheduled for today, with hundreds expected to attend.

    Residents of the close-knit community, many of whom knew McElrath, are talking about the crime at restaurant counters and shops, while the officer's family and co-workers struggle to make sense of his death.

    "Line of duty, car accident, I could understand, but not like this, no way," said his stepfather, Edward Perez.

    Susanville Police Chief Jeff Atkinson said the killing "is so far out of the norm for us." The city of 17,000, home to two state prisons, has averaged about one homicide a year in recent years and had fewer before that, he said.

    The grim nature of McElrath's off-duty death has made it all the harder for folks to digest, Atkinson said. "It seems so senseless and tragic. The circumstances surrounding it are just unbelievable."

    Grim plot detailed

    Criminal complaints filed against Joanna McElrath and James in Lassen Superior Court last Monday lay out prosecutors' version of events:

    On Jan. 1, they say, Joanna McElrath "ground up prescription narcotic medications and put them into the victim's alcoholic beverage without his knowledge." Later, she gave her husband more narcotics, telling him they were aspirin, the complaints state.

    Once Robert McElrath was "essentially incoherent," according to the allegations, his wife and James drove the officer to a bridge west of town, near Highway 36, in a place known as Devil's Corral.

    The area along the Susan River is named for the eerie sound the wind makes as it passes through rocks and sagebrush and dead cattle that were found there.

    Robert McElrath was walked onto the old highway bridge, now blocked to cars, and "shot once in the face at point-blank range with his own duty weapon," prosecutors wrote.

    The suspects later dropped his body off the bridge to the riverbank below, the complaint says. It was discovered by a passer-by the next morning.

    Lassen County Sheriff Dean Growdon said the suspects may have been trying to make it look like a suicide. Other authorities said financial gain could have been a motive.

    Joanna McElrath and James were arrested four days later, on Jan. 6. They gave statements to investigators with details of the crime, Growdon said.

    Lassen County court records show that James has two convictions for spousal abuse. In 2002, he was charged with a felony, later reduced to a misdemeanor, and sentenced to 36 months' probation.

    In December 2007, James' wife told police he had destroyed their Christmas tree and torn out chunks of her hair. He pleaded guilty to a felony count in August 2008 and was sentenced to a year in the county jail, followed by probation, court records show.

    Lassen jail personnel said the suspects could not be made available for media interviews Thursday. Defense lawyers for James and Joanna McElrath said this week that they had just been appointed to the case and didn't know enough about it to comment.

    Bud Landreth, a veteran death penalty lawyer from Salinas who owns a Lassen County fishing cabin, was appointed to represent Joanna McElrath. He said widespread talk about the case would likely prompt the defense to file a motion to have it moved to another county.

    "There is a a great deal of local interest," he said. "If not properly handled, it could result in a change of venue."

    A cop who wanted to help

    On Thursday, a bouquet of frozen flowers leaned against the bridge where Robert McElrath died.

    In interviews with The Bee, fellow officers, residents, family and friends described the officer as kindhearted, upbeat and always smiling.

    Susanville Police Officer Alan Inman, McElrath's shift partner, said he had a calming influence on people and even those he arrested found it hard to dislike him.

    Last winter, Inman watched as his partner took off his gunbelt, tied a rope around his waist and waded into the partially frozen Susan River to save a drowning dog.

    McElrath became a cop to help people, Inman said, and was particularly good at talking to troubled teens about turning their lives around.

    "Rob had a way he could talk to people in a way they weren't hostile toward him," Inman said.

    McElrath and his wife, a former Miss Lassen County, had two younger children together and McElrath adopted his wife's two daughters from a prior marriage. McElrath had recently reconciled with his estranged wife for the sake of their children, relatives said.

    His family suggested that McElrath's kind nature, and decision to take back his wife after they'd split up, may have led to his demise. "He was a real forgiving person," said his aunt, Terry Givens. "He was too nice for his own good."

    http://www.sacbee.com/2011/01/15/332...#ixzz1B9XoCcW4

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    Death penalty will not be sought in murder case

    Lassen County District Attorney Bob Burns announced he will not be seeking the death penalty against two people who are being held on murder charges.

    Burns made the announcement Tuesday, Dec. 20 when Joanna Lynne McElrath and Robin Glen James appeared in Lassen Superior Court to enter a plea on charges of the alleged premeditated murder of Susanville City Police Officer Robert James McElrath, who was Joanna McElrath’s estranged husband. James was her alleged boyfriend at the time of Robert McElrath’s death.

    A press release from Burns said while the decision to not seek the death penalty was exclusively his to make, it was made in consultation with, and in the agreement of, the McElrath family, Lassen County Sheriff Dean Growdon, whose agency investigated the case, Police Chief Jeff Atkinson, of the Susanville Police Department of where the victim was employed and some of McElrath’s coworkers.

    According to the press release, McElrath and James remain subject to life in prison without the possibility of parole

    The press release said the principal reasoning of not seeking the death penalty included the practical and sober acknowledgement that getting a death sentence imposed against a woman is unlikely at best.

    There are only 16 women on death row in all of California. More unlikely was the proposition that a death sentence would actually be carried out. The last woman executed in California was 50 years ago in 1961.

    Endless writs and appeals advanced by California’s top dollar, well-oiled, anti-capital punishment machine make a death sentence essentially a defacto life sentence.

    The release said, “The McElraths’ prefer closure, not necessarily for themselves but for their grandchildren, the four that Joanna McElrath’s murderous plan left behind.”

    McElrath and James were arrested Jan. 6 after law enforcement agencies conducted an almost week long investigation into Robert McElrath’s death. His body was found at the Devil’s Corral railroad trestle near the riverbank the morning of Jan. 2.

    It has been alleged that during the evening of Jan. 1, Joanna McElrath crushed up prescription medication and put it in Robert McElrath’s alcoholic drink.

    When he was incoherent, she drove him to Devil’s Corral where James was already located. It was alleged James then used McElrath’s duty weapon to shoot him in the face.

    After a five day preliminary hearing in July, Lassen County Superior Court Judge Michelle Verderosa determined there was enough evidence to proceed.

    On Dec. 20, McElrath pleaded not guilty to charges of premeditated murder and conspiracy, as well as special allegations of lying in wait, the murder was committed for financial gain and that James used the handgun resulting in Robert McElrath’s death.

    Prior to Burns’ announcement that he would not be seeking the death penalty, James’ attorney Larry Barnes requested a plea not be entered yet for the defendant. That request remained, even after the change in the case.

    James and McElrath remain in custody without bail.

    http://www.lassennews.com/home/7488-...in-murder-case

  4. #4
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    June 1, 2013

    Trial in killing of Susanville police officer to be moved from Lassen County

    By Jane Braxton Little
    Bee Correspondent

    SUSANVILLE – Joanna L. McElrath will not face trial in Lassen County for the 2011 killing of her husband, Susanville Police Officer Robert McElrath, 37.

    At a hearing Friday in Lassen Superior Court, Judge John T. Ball ruled that the publicity surrounding the case was so extensive that neither Joanna McElrath nor her co-defendant, Robin Glen James, would receive a fair and impartial trial in Lassen County.

    He continued the hearing to June 14 to select a location for the murder trial.

    Ball called the more than 96 newspaper articles about the case "a great deal by any standards."

    Ball also cited the size of the rural community, the gravity of the crime and the status of the victim, "a well-known and respected police officer and former Marine."

    After the hearing, Lassen County District Attorney Robert Burns said the ruling did not surprise him.

    Joanna McElrath and James face felony charges of premeditated murder, conspiracy to commit murder and special allegations that the murder involved lying in wait and the use of a firearm.

    McElrath is also accused of committing murder for financial gain.

    Burns has charged that the couple, romantically linked at the time of the January 2011 killing, used a prescription narcotic to drug Robert McElrath before using his own car to drive him to a railroad trestle over the Susan River, seven miles west of Susanville, where they shot him with his service weapon and returned later to dump his body off the bridge.

    Both defendants have been in custody without bail since their arrests Jan. 6, 2011.

    http://www.sacbee.com/2013/06/01/546...#storylink=cpy

  5. #5
    Senior Member CnCP Legend JLR's Avatar
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    May 23, 2014

    Lassen woman sentenced to 25 years to life for murder of police-officer husband

    SUSANVILLE -- A Lassen County judge sentenced Joanna Lynn McElrath to 25 years to life in prison Friday for the first-degree murder of her husband, Susanville Police Officer Robert McElrath.

    Joanna McElrath, 39, pleaded guilty in March to the 2011 New Year’s Day slaying, which was allegedly committed with the help of her romantic partner at the time, 49-year-old Robin Glen James.

    In exchange for the plea and waiving her right to appeal the conviction, Lassen County District Attorney Robert M. Burns dropped special allegations against McElrath that would have precluded the possibility of parole. He also dismissed a charge of conspiracy to commit murder.

    Robert McElrath, 37, was drugged with a prescription narcotic before he was driven in his own car to a railroad trestle over the Susan River 7 miles west of Susanville. There, though off-duty at the time, he was shot with his service weapon, and his body was later dumped off the bridge.

    In handing down his sentence, Superior Court Judge John T. Ball denied Joanna McElrath probation and ordered her to pay $8,913 in restitution to cover the costs of her husband’s funeral. The judge imposed the mandatory sentence but awarded McElrath credit for the 1,233 days she has spent in custody.

    When she is released from state prison is now up to the parole board and her own behavior, he said.

    The judge continued the case against James to July 11. He faces premeditated murder, conspiracy to commit murder and special allegations that the murder involved lying in wait and use of a firearm.

    Robert McElrath’s murder changed the life of his 18-year-old adopted daughter, Samantha McElrath, a product of Joanna’s previous marriage. “I lost both my dad and my mom … Thanks to my mom I’ll never have a normal day in my life,” she said in court Friday, leaving the witness stand in tears.

    Tish Beckett, McElrath’s mother, described her daughter’s years of promiscuity and stubborn resistance to getting treatment for depression and mental instability. In a courtroom packed with relatives of both Joanna and Robert McElrath, Beckett asked the McElrath family to forgive the Beckett family.

    And she called for both families to make the McElraths’ four children, two of them from Joanna’s previous marriage, their first priority. “They need each and every one of us,” she said.

    Dorene Perez, Robert McElrath’s mother, spoke directly to Joanna McElrath, who sat impassive and handcuffed in a blue prison jumpsuit throughout the 90-minute hearing. “Most mothers put their children first. You didn’t,” Perez said.

    In her statement to the court, McElrath briefly apologized for her crimes. But she focused on the difficulty of having been in custody for more than three years, describing it as “far from an easy time.”

    “And I know that (Robert) loves me still,” she said, prompting several family members to leave the courtroom.

    Burns, the district attorney, reacted to McElrath’s statement with an angry response. “The sentiment I heard today doesn’t even scratch the surface,” he said. “We hope (McElrath’s) discomfort continues.”

    http://www.sacbee.com/2014/05/23/642...#storylink=cpy

  6. #6
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    December 11, 2014

    James Pleads Guilty to McElrath Slaying: Facing 25 Years to Life in Prison


    Lassen County District Attorney Stacey Montgomery released a brief statement Thursday afternoon announcing that Robin Glen James, a co-defendant in the murder of off-duty Susanville police officer Robert McElrath, has plead guilty to the charges and will be sentenced on March 6th, 2015 at 1:30pm, in Lassen Superior Court.

    According to the District Attorney James appeared in Lassen Superior Court Thursday where he plead guilty to a felony charge of murder and a special allegation of premeditation.

    James waived his right to appeal and now faces a 25-years-to-life sentence in state prison.

    “I am content with the outcome of the case,” explained the District Attorney, “and want the community to know that James will be a very old man when and if he is ever released from prison.”

    “The loss this community has suffered will forever leave a scar on our hearts,” added Montgomery, “but I hope with the admitted guilty plea from James, real healing can now begin for family, friends, the community and Rob’s brothers and sisters in law enforcement.”

    http://www.susanvillestuff.com/james...ife-in-prison/

    According to the California DOC, James began serving his sentence on April 2, 2015.

    http://inmatelocator.cdcr.ca.gov/search.aspx

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