Witness: Slaying victim at Mendocino County pot farm had little chance at self-defense

The lone witness to a brutal attack that left a former Rohnert Park man dead in May at a remote Mendocino County marijuana farm testified Friday that the victim had little chance to protect himself as his alleged killer, a housemate, came at him with a metal baseball bat.

The suspect, Joshua Ruoff, 30, awakened and then attacked Timothy Sweeting, 27, as he was lying on the couch in a house they shared with three other men on the remote Covelo property, witness Tyler Marschok said in Mendocino County Court during a preliminary hearing that began Friday. Ruoff is charged with murder and using a deadly weapon in the attack.

At the time of the May 17 assault, Marschok was the only other person at home on the property. All but Sweeting had attended the same high school in New Hampshire. Marschok and one friend had moved to the property in March and soon after began helping another friend, the property owner’s son, cultivate marijuana. Ruoff was already living there and Sweeting arrived a few weeks after Marschok, he testified Friday.

Ruoff had been grumbling for some time about Sweeting, complaining that he was lazy and messy, Marschok said.

He griped that Sweeting slept too much, left his clothes strewn around the house and allowed his female dog to bleed all over the house while she was in heat, Marschok said.

Ruoff also apparently was angry that Sweeting hadn’t helped find their boss’s dogs when they were missing some days earlier, Marschok said. Sweeting’s two dogs disappeared a few days before he was killed and he was devastated, which apparently irked Ruoff, Marschok said.

Ruoff also had drunk about ?12 beers the day of the attack and seemed agitated just prior to the attack, Marschok said. The suspect said something about the victim only caring about his own dogs just before he assaulted Sweeting, Marschok said. He may also have thrown something across the room at Sweeting, who cursed back in response, Marschok said.

After that, the only sound Marschok said he recalled hearing was the thud of the baseball bat hitting Sweeting’s body.

Sweeting never stood up or fought back. He just raised his arms in an apparent, unsuccessful attempt to protect his face and head, Marschok said.

“I started yelling for him to stop at the top of my lungs,” Marschok testified. But Ruoff ignored him, he said. He said he then tried to stop the assault by grabbing Ruoff’s arms but the suspect pushed him away without saying anything or even glancing his way, Marschok said.

When the assault ended, Sweeting was on the floor, gasping for air and making gurgling sounds, Marschok said. Fearing for his own life, Marschok said he grabbed his cellphone, a pillow and his two dogs and fled.

As he drove away, he said he phoned the former schoolmate who managed the property, John “Jack” Overend, told him what happened and asked him to call police and others.

Marschok phoned law enforcement the next morning from Grass Valley, where he’d previously resided. When deputies arrived at the property, they found a bloody scene but no body and no suspect. Ruoff had fled the state. Sweeting’s body was found in a shallow grave on the property more than two weeks later. Ruoff was later arrested in New Hampshire and extradited to Mendocino County.

Members of the Overend family also were arrested. They were charged with marijuana cultivation and sales, and a weapons charge, according to the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff’s officials said Robert Overend, 66, and his wife, Katherine, 67, both of Francistown, New Hampshire, bought the property for their son, 28-year-old John, to grow pot.

The preliminary hearing before Judge David Nelson is meant to determine if there is enough evidence against Ruoff to proceed to trial. Because of court scheduling conflicts, the hearing will continue on Dec. 20.

Ruoff is being prosecuted by Mendocino County Assistant District Attorney Richard Welsh and defended by Public Defender Linda Thompson.

You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 707-462-6473 or glenda.anderson@pressdemocrat.com.