Nevada man pleads not guilty after being accused of killing man, dumping body in Lake County

A Nevada man who gained a following online for his travel videos remains jailed in Lake County, suspected of murdering an Illinois man with whom he planned to start a deaf farming commune, authorities said.

Mavrick Fisher, 21, of Nevada, pleaded not guilty last week to killing Grant David Whitaker, 25, whose body was found on Scotts Valley Road in Lake County on Aug. 26, roughly six days after prosecutors say violence between the two men broke out in Humboldt County. Fisher was arrested in Mexico, where authorities say he fled after dumping Whitaker's body on a rural property.

During Monday's hearing, Fisher additionally pleaded not guilty to separate counts of assault with a deadly weapon, taking a vehicle from a dead person and grand theft of a car, prosecutors said. His bail was set at $1 million.

While investigators have zeroed in on a likely weapon - a rock - no clear motive had been established, Lake County District Attorney Susan Krones said last week.

“There was some type of argument between Mr. Whitaker and Mr. Fisher and that resulted in Mr. Fisher hitting Mr. Whitaker in the head with a rock,” Krones said. “Mr. Fisher put the body in a sleeping bag and drove him down to Lake County.”

Investigators continued to build a timeline for the case as of Friday, Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Corey Paulich said. They suspect both men met in Nevada, where Fisher is from, sometime before driving to Richardson Grove State Park on the southern edge of Humboldt County, Paulich said.

Traveling in Whitaker's grandmother's car, the pair arrived at the campground on Aug. 19 and the argument and subsequent killing happened early the next day, according to Krones. Fisher then reportedly drove to Lake County with Whitaker's body and dumped it at the Scotts Valley Road property three days later, Paulich said. Meanwhile, Whitaker was reported missing Aug. 19 after family members in Illinois, where he's from, were unable to reach him.

Word of his disappearance spread to the Lake County Sheriff's Office on Aug. 24, when Whitaker's family members alerted the office that his car may be near a Dollar General store in Lake County. Friends of both men contacted the Sheriff's Office with information that Fisher had admitted to killing Whitaker, according to Paulich. Fisher additionally shared directions to Whitaker's body with the friends, which led investigators to Whitaker's body, Paulich said.

“Fisher had told friends about the murder and they provided that information to the Sheriff's Office,” Paulich said in an email.

The Nevada man boarded a Greyhound bus from Los Angeles to Mexico on Aug. 25, but was stopped at the San Diego-Tijuana border a day later, Paulich said.

Mexican migration officers then turned Fisher over to U.S. authorities, who transported him to the Lake County Jail, where he was booked Aug. 28.

Though the Lake County Sheriff's Office said Fisher admitted to the crime, Tom Feimer, a Lake County defense attorney representing Fisher, questioned that characterization.

Feimer noted Fisher has no prior criminal history and that he faced additional challenges navigating the legal process because he was deaf. Whitaker was also deaf.

“Mr. Fisher is someone who is not familiar with the legal process,” Feimer said. “I know he spoke to police and admission is their way of characterizing it, but I think ultimately it's going to be up to a jury to decide what the import of the statement is.”

Investigators believe the two men met online about a year ago, but didn't meet face-to-face until May, Paulich said.

A Facebook page run by Fisher, where he chronicled his life and attempts to start a deaf community, included two videos uploaded in July that showed Fisher and Whitaker together.

“DEAF FARM PROGRAM!!! WITH MY NEW PARTNER, GRANT WHITAKER!!! SHARE NOW!” one post said.

Though the killing is suspected to have happened in Humboldt County, Krones said her office was prosecuting the case because Whitaker's body was found in Lake County.

Fisher will return to court on Oct. 23 for a preliminary hearing.