Mendocino jury convicts Willits man of murdering pair, who were found beheaded

A Mendocino County jury has determined that a Willits man intentionally shot and killed two people whose headless were found at an illegal marijuana grow in April 2021.

Following a two-week trial, jurors on Monday convicted Christopher Gamble, 48, of the fatal shootings of Anwar Ayala Rodriguez, 17, and Ulises Andrade Ayala, 42.

Court documents show the victims were father and son who worked for Gamble on a illegal marijuana operation at 20815 Timber Road, 10 miles north of Willits, where they all lived.

The records don’t specify a motive for the killings, other than Gamble didn’t like the pair. “Christopher did not get along with the victims due to not obeying his orders and undermining him,” a county official said in a request to increase Gamble’s bail that was filed in April 2021.

Gamble was also found guilty of killing, maiming or abusing animals, according to court documents.

He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

His attorney could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Gamble is scheduled to appear in court Friday. Opposing attorneys are expected to discuss factors in the case that could affect the severity of his sentencing.

Gamble’s conviction comes two years after law enforcement found the victims’ bodies in a burn pile, along with multiple roosters and evidence of a cockfight.

They were fatally shot before being decapitated, according to the District Attorney’s Office, which added that their heads were never recovered.

According to a deactivated GoFundMe account created to raise money for the victims’ funerals, “Ulises was a hard working man who was able to come to the U.S to work for a better life for him and his family back in Mexico.”

His son “just wanted a better future but his dreams were cut short just shy before even becoming an adult,” the posting added.

The night of the killings

According to the prosecution, the victims were last seen around 9:30 p.m. April 24, 2021 when they and Gamble left a baptism party off Sherwood Road near Willits.

They drove away together in a PT Cruiser.

Gamble had a cabin but the victims shared a bunkhouse with two other workers who were present during the baptism party. They all spent the night in Willits.

One of them, Gadiel Ortega Hernandez, returned to the marijuana grow the morning of April 25. He found the parked PT Cruiser with its door open, water flowing out and a “large jug” of Simple Green cleaning solution by the passenger door, according to court documents.

Gamble approached with a blood-stained white bed comforter.

“The defendant advised Gadiel words to the effect of that neither of the victims were going to be working there anymore and that they had left,” prosecutors stated in court records. “The defendant also made a statement that he had gotten into an argument or fight with Ulises and that Ulises had pointed a gun at him.”

Court records stated that Ortega went to work in a marijuana greenhouse before returning to his bunkhouse, which was in disarray with blood that left him scared.

He called a friend to pick him up and he returned to the site of the baptism party where several acquaintances lived. They dialed 911.

Authorities arrived around noon and arrested Gamble on two misdemeanor warrants after spotting him trying to leave his home through a back door.

Court records stated they were related to charges of burning without a permit and entering a closed disaster area. They were filed in May 2019 and September 2020, respectively.

Investigators discovered blood in the bunkhouse and on the trail linking the building to the PT Cruiser, which was parked nearby down a hill.

There were shell casings throughout the area plus multiple guns in Gamble’s cabin.

Officials searched two nearby parcels on Eagle Court, which were owned by Gamble. There, investigators found the burn pile, victims and roosters.

“Both bodies were missing their heads and were severely burned beyond recognition,” prosecutors wrote.

You can reach Staff Writer Madison Smalstig at madison.smalstig@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @madi.smals.