Suspect convicted in 2016 double homicide involving marijuana sale near Sebastopol

Six weeks of testimony and four hours of jury deliberation ended with a conviction Tuesday in a 2016 double homicide involving a defendant who fled to Philadelphia before being arrested two years later in Texas.

Robert Lee Randolph, 37, faces life in prison without the possibility of parole when he’s sentenced Nov. 23 for the Oct. 15, 2016, killings of Sebastopol resident Nathan Proto, 36, and Guerneville resident John Jess Mariana, 28.

Randolph was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder, as well as for the attempted murder of Geena Gauthier, who previously testified she survived a gunshot to her face after pretending to be dead.

The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office thanked the jurors for their service but would provide further comment during the sentencing, Assistant District Attorney Brian Staebell said.

The triple shooting, which involved a marijuana deal, occurred about one month before California voters legalized recreational cannabis.

Investigators at the time said it wasn’t unusual for East Coasters to travel west, obtain marijuana and sell it in other states for double or triple the value.

At the time, the 2016 killing was considered Sonoma County’s deadliest crime involving a marijuana transaction since 2013, when three people were killed at a Forestville cabin.

“The only way our criminal justice system works is if everyone, no matter how horrible their case, no matter how serious the charges, receives a vigorous defense and fundamental fairness. That is due process of law. This is true during the jury trial and through the process of appeal,” Joseph Stogner, Randolph’s attorney, told The Press Democrat on Friday. “Mr. Randolph will be filing an appeal.”

A second defendant in the case, Maria Teresa Lebron, 34, reached a plea agreement in April and pleaded no contest to three counts of assault with a semiautomatic weapon, two counts of burglary and three counts of being an accessory.

Her attorney declined to comment Friday, but court records show Lebron faces 17 years in prison. She’s scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 30.

Sonoma County investigators said Lebron and Randolph traveled to California several times in the months leading up to the violent encounter at Proto’s home on Highway 116 South in the community of Hessel.

Mariana, originally from Philadelphia, had arranged the deal, which detectives at the time said involved about 100 pounds of marijuana worth $100,000 to $200,000.

Mariana was a carpenter and moved to Sonoma County five years before the shootings.

Randolph and Lebron met Mariana at his home near Guerneville, where a failed marijuana transaction angered the defendant, according to court records.

Still, he and Lebron met with the victims later that day and drove together to Proto’s home.

Proto worked for the Cloverdale School District for about four years ending in 2010. He taught third grade at Jefferson Elementary and English language development at Washington Middle School.

Lebron claimed she was outside with Gauthier and engaged in friendly chatter when shots rang out and the latter was shot in her face.

Proto died the night of the shooting, while Mariana died three days later at a local hospital.

According to court documents, Lebron told investigators she and Randolph fled to Oakland after the shooting and met a contact who provided the latter with a gun. They burned their clothes, shipped marijuana to Philadelphia and fled.

Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office investigators identified a suspect vehicle and found surveillance footage of it crossing the Bay Bridge. Investigators determined the vehicle had been rented by Lebron and used it to trace Randolph and Lebron’s flight to Philadelphia.

Detectives flew to Philadelphia to arrest them about two weeks after the shooting, but they were not located. The case was then turned over to the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service, which found the pair two years later in Austin, Texas.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi