Clearlake Oaks woman accused of killing her boyfriend denied bail

A Clearlake Oaks woman accused of killing her boyfriend over the summer was denied bail this week by a Lake County judge, according to prosecutors.

The Lake County District Attorney’s Office has charged Tammy Sue Grogan-Robinson, 56, with murder in connection with the July 7 killing of Charles Vernon McClelland, 56, of Rohnert Park.

Judge J. David Markham denied bail for Grogan-Robinson on Tuesday, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff said the decision was made in part because of the seriousness of the crime she’s accused of committing, which makes her “a threat to the public.” She is being held at the Lake County Jail.

Grogan-Robinson told authorities on July 7 that she had been in an on-and-off relationship with McClelland for about five years and that she had killed him that morning when tried to sexually assault her, according to a news release from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

Authorities found McClelland dead with gunshot wounds in Grogan-Robinson’s home on Island Circle after she reported the killing, prosecutors said.

Grogan-Robinson said McClelland raped her the night before she shot him, according to Mitchell Hauptman, a Lakeport attorney who represented Grogan-Robinson in court. She said that in the morning, McClelland returned to her home with the intention of assaulting her again, and “fearing for her life, she shot him,” Hauptman said.

Hinchcliff, the deputy district attorney, said the Lake County Sheriff’s Office “did a very in-depth investigation and came up with a different opinion about what happened.”

“They came up with some evidence indicating that she did not shoot him in self defense, that she committed murder,” he said. Hinchcliff declined to discuss the evidence, citing the active case.

She is scheduled to appear in court to enter a plea at 11 a.m. on Oct. 13, according to Hauptman.

You can reach Staff Writer Matt Pera at matthew.pera@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @Matt__Pera.