Two suspects identified in Sebastopol double homicide

Two Philadelphia residents Sunday were identified as prime suspects in an Oct. 15 shooting at a rural Sebastopol home that killed two men and critically wounded a woman during a marijuana deal.

Sonoma County Sheriff’s officials said Robert Lee Randolph, 30, and his girlfriend, Maria Teresa Lebron, 28, traveled across the country to buy pot in a transaction involving 100 pounds of marijuana and cash estimated between $100,000 and $200,000.

Sheriff’s officials said Sunday the two are presumed to be on the run in Philadelphia or New Jersey, and should be considered armed and dangerous.

The agency has been tight-lipped about the details of what happened that night at the Highway 116 South property southeast of Sebastopol. Detectives made a breakthrough in the case Friday when they learned the names of the suspects and traveled to Philadelphia to attempt to find and arrest them. Detectives went to both Pennsylvania and New Jersey over the weekend.

“We have gone to Philadelphia … and they weren’t at the homes that we were expecting them to be at, and now we’re actively chasing them,” said Sgt. Spencer Crum, adding that the New Jersey search was focused in Burlington County. “We’re asking for people to help us locate these suspects.”

Crum said he expects the suspects are aware they’re being sought.

According to investigators, one of the shooting victims - John Jessie Mariana, 28 - was from the Philadelphia area and had arranged “a large marijuana transaction” with Randolph.

Investigators said Randolph and Lebron flew from Philadelphia to San Francisco on Oct. 13, rented a Hyundai Sonata and spent several days in the Bay Area and Sacramento.

They met with Mariana on the evening of Oct. 15, and he took them to the home of former Cloverdale teacher Nathan Proto, 36, where the deal was supposed to go down.

At some point during the hourlong meeting, detectives suspect, Randolph pulled out a handgun and shot Mariana, Proto and a third victim whose name has still not been released. Proto died that night. Mariana died from his injuries at a local hospital three days later. The third victim, a 23-year-old woman, was shot in the head. She is expected to survive.

Investigators believe after the shooting Randolph and Lebron used the rental car to stash the pot and cash in another location for later shipment to Philadelphia. Crum said that location is unknown to investigators.

A key step in trying to identify the suspects was securing video of Randolph crossing a Bay Area bridge with the rental car, Crum said. Once detectives discerned the type of car, they were able to trace it to a “specific rental agency,” though Crum declined to name the rental agency.

Investigators now know that after the suspects returned their car, they boarded an Oct. 17 flight from San Francisco to Philadelphia. Detectives now have possession of the rental car, but Crum couldn’t say whether anything had been found in it, or whether anyone else had access to the car’s interior before detectives took possession.

Randolph is described as black, 5 feet 8 inches and weighing about 160 pounds.

Lebron is described as Hispanic, 5 feet 3 inches and weighing about 140 pounds.

Crum did not know whether they have criminal histories.

The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office is working with the FBI, the U.S. Marshal’s Office and other local agencies to search for Randolph and Lebron.

Anyone with information about Randolph or Lebron is asked to call Detective Jeff Toney at 707-565-2650. Anyone aware of their whereabouts is asked to call 911 immediately.