Autopsy: Fort Bragg slaying suspect Aaron Bassler died from multiple gunshot wounds

An autopsy confirmed that killing suspect Aaron Bassler died from multiple gunshot wounds, Mendocino County sheriff's officials said Wednesday.

Officials revealed few details about the findings of the autopsy, performed Tuesday by a Mendocino County sheriff forensic pathologist in Ukiah.

A final autopsy report will be issued once results from blood alcohol and toxicology tests come back, officials said. Those reports could take a month.

Bassler, 35, was shot seven times in the upper torso by members of a Sacramento County sheriff's SWAT unit deployed to the forests east of Fort Bragg to aid in the multi-agency search for Bassler.

Bassler eluded capture for more than a month after he was identified as the shooter who on Aug. 27 gunned down Fort Bragg City Councilman Jere Melo, 69, on private timberland east of town. DNA evidence later linked Bassler to the Aug. 11 shooting death of environmentalist Matthew Coleman, 45, of Albion on a remote ranch about 25 miles to the north near Rockport.

At least two members of the Sacramento team fired seven shots when the spotted Bassler at 12:23 p.m. Saturday on a logging road about six miles east of Fort Bragg, Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman said.

All seven shots struck Bassler in the upper torso, he said.