Detective: Sonoma County murder suspect admitted stabbing pot grower boss

A Michigan man who came west to work in the marijuana trade will be tried for the murder of his employer, a Sonoma County pot grower, in a dispute over their living situation.

Arent Bradt, 34, admitted in a police interview that he plunged a knife into the neck of Cesar Gonzalez-Rivas, 44, on Thanksgiving Day after his boss stepped toward him during an argument and showed a “snake in his eyes,” a Sonoma County sheriff’s detective said in a preliminary hearing Thursday.

Bradt told the investigator he watched Gonzalez-Rivas continue to walk around the Knights Valley house, blood running from the wound in his neck, then pushed him out the front door onto his face, stabbing him 11 times in the back, Detective Jayson Fowler said.

“He said he felt relieved he wasn’t in danger anymore,” Fowler said, recounting Bradt’s videotaped comments made to him the night of the slaying.

After listening to the graphic testimony along with other witness statements, Judge Jamie Thistlethwaite ruled there was sufficient evidence to try Bradt on premeditated murder with a knife. He faces a life sentence if convicted.

His next court date is May 11.

Family members said Bradt came from Port Huron, Michigan, last year to try his hand in the state’s fast-growing cannabis industry. He was an occasional worker for Gonzalez-Rivas and found himself part of a group of friends and co-workers, including trimmer ?Brandon Rivard, who was at the remote property at the time of the killing.

Rivard testified Bradt had become an unwelcome presence, leading to arguments in the days and hours before disagreement turned deadly.

Gonzalez-Rivas was frustrated by Bradt’s habit of staying up late so that he was unable to provide the work expected of him during the day, he said.

Bradt also displayed a presumptuous, territorial attitude toward the house, disregarding conventions around privacy and respect for his host, Rivard said.

On Thanksgiving afternoon, Rivard said he heard the men scuffle in another room and came out to find the mortally wounded Gonzalez-Rivas. Rivard said Bradt yelled out: “This is my house! This is my f---ing house now!”

Bradt then took off into nearby woods, according to Fowler’s testimony, tossing a bloody folding knife onto a blanket that was later found in the front yard.

However, he doubled back and lay on the front lawn, his hands clasped behind his head, waiting for deputies to arrive, the detective said.

He was arrested and brought to the Sheriff’s Office where he consented to an interview, the detective said.

“He basically said he had to defend himself,” Fowler said. “I said from whom? He said from the guy whose blood is all over me.”

An autopsy showed the victim suffered a total of 18 stab wounds.

Bradt insisted he had done nothing wrong. His lawyers suggested he acted in self-defense when Gonzalez-Rivas mentioned a gun in another room.

Also, the lawyers pointed to witness statements that Bradt suffered a mental breakdown and was making bizarre noises while in custody that the detective said sounded like something “an African bushman would make.”

Staff Writer Mary Callahan contributed reporting. Staff Writer Paul Payne is at 707-568-5312.