Clearlake vigilante charged with homicide

<p>Shannon Edmonds, the Clearlake man who gained national attention in 2005 for killing two men while they fled after a burglary at his home, has been charged with homicide in a Tuesday morning stabbing, officials said.</p><p>Edmonds, 35, and Melvin Dale Norton, 34, also of Clearlake, were arrested Tuesday, according to Clearlake Police Chief Allan McClain. </p><p>McClain said a disturbance or possible fight was reported to police at about 1:15 a.m. in an area of mobile home parks called “The Resort,” near Old Highway 53.</p><p>When police arrived at Old Highway 53 and Clement Drive, they found a man in his 30s who had been stabbed lying on the side of the road, said McClain. Police leads during an investigation led to the arrests of Edmonds and Norton, who both have homes in the area, he said.</p><p>Police detectives, along with a team of investigators for the Lake County District Attorney’s Office, are still investigating the motive for the killing.</p><p>Edmonds was thrust into the national headlines when he shot to death two Bay Area men, Christian Foster, 22, of San Francisco, and Rashad Williams, 21, of Pittsburg and Clearlake, during a botched marijuana robbery at Edmonds’ home.</p><p>Edmonds, who was able to arm himself during the robbery, shot both men as they tried to flee. The deaths fueled allegations of racism and vigilante justice — Williams and Foster were both black.</p><p>A third intruder, Renato Hughes, 25, was charged with their deaths under the provocative act law, which holds someone responsible if they participate in a crime likely to result in death. Hughes, who is also black, was a childhood friend of Williams and Foster.</p><p>In his trial, Hughes was cleared of murder charges but a jury found him guilty of burglary and assault.</p><p>Edmonds testified that the men were after a stash of marijuana he said he used for medical reasons. The defense, however, painted the Clearlake man as a violent and racist drug dealer while also contending the men had gone to his house that night simply to buy pot.</p><p>Edmonds was named in a federal civil wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the parents of Williams and Foster. His insurance company, Allied Insurance, settled that suit in January.</p><p>McClain said search warrants in the Tuesday stabbing were being processed and that no other details about the incident were available Tuesday night.</p>