Suspects in 2016 Sebastopol double-homicide arrested in Texas, authorities say

The prime suspects in a 2016 Sebastopol shooting that left two people dead and a third injured during a drug deal have been arrested in Texas.

FBI agents last week traced the pair, identified as Robert Lee Randolph, 30, and Maria Teresa Lebron, 28, to an apartment in Austin, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office said Monday. Investigative leads led authorities to the apartment, where the couple were living with friends, Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Spencer Crum said.

He did not know how long the two had lived there.

Crum declined to say what tipped off authorities to the pair’s whereabouts.

“The FBI and the U.S. Marshals Office have been working this case for two years, trying to locate them,” Crum said. “It was good ol’ investigative work.”

Aided by the Austin Police Department’s SWAT team, the feds served warrants for their arrest Friday afternoon.

Police seized drugs and at least one weapon, the Sheriff’s Office said.

The Philadelphia-area couple had eluded law enforcement since the Oct. 15, 2016, shooting at a rural Highway 116 home southeast of Sebastopol, authorities said.

They had traveled across the country for a pot deal involving about 100 pounds of marijuana and cash estimated between $100,000 and $200,000, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s officials previously said.

The meeting was set up by John Jessie Mariana, a 28-year-old Guerneville resident originally from Philadelphia, the Sheriff’s Office said. Mariana led Lebron and Randolph to the home, where they met with former Cloverdale teacher Nathan Proto, 36. Proto lived on the property and was growing marijuana there, authorities said.

Detectives believe the group talked for about an hour before Randolph pulled out a handgun and shot both Mariana and Proto, the Sheriff’s Office said. Proto died that night and Mariana died three days later at a local hospital.

A third victim, an unidentified 23-year-old woman, also was shot in the head but survived, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Witnesses in the area told deputies they saw a sedan speeding away from the home.

Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office investigators launched a lengthy search for the suspects, making a key discovery when a detective zeroed in on surveillance footage of a Hyundai Sonata matching the description witnesses provided passing through the cash lane of a Bay Area bridge toll, the Sheriff’s Office said.

The car was traced back to a rental car company. A rental agreement listed Lebron as renting the car on Oct. 13, two days before the shooting, authorities said.

The vehicle was returned and the pair boarded a flight from San Francisco to Philadelphia on Oct. 17, 2016, Sonoma County Sheriff’s officials said.

Authorities suspect the couple may have stashed pot and money taken from the home somewhere in the state before their departure. Both had made several visits to California in the six months leading up to the shooting, authorities said.

Detectives flew to Philadelphia to arrest them about two weeks after the shooting, but they slipped away before authorities were able to reach them. The case was eventually turned over to the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service, Crum said.

Randolph and Lebron will remain in jail without bail in Travis County, Texas, until an extradition hearing can determine how and when they’ll return to Sonoma County, Crum said. He said the pair are being held on suspicion of killing the two men, as well as one count of attempted murder, robbery and burglary.

Randolph also has arrest warrants out of Philadelphia involving a suspected DUI and a contempt of court case, Crum said.

You can reach Staff Writer Nashelly Chavez at 707-521-5203 or nashelly.chavez@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter ?@nashellytweets