Suspected Serial Killer Arrested While Allegedly ‘Out Hunting’ for Victims Charged with Four Additional Murders
Jerry Lambe, Law & Crime, December 28, 2022
Authorities in Northern California have added four new murder charges against a man they say they arrested while he was “out hunting” for victims.
43-year-old suspected serial killer Wesley Brownlee has been charged with four additional counts of murder — bringing the total number of murder counts against him to seven — and one new count of attempted murder, the San Joaquin District Attorney’s office announced Tuesday.
Brownlee also faces firearms charges.
He was arrested in October by the Stockton Police Department and charged at the time with the murders of Jonathan Hernandez Rodriguez, 21, who was killed on Aug. 30, 2022; Juan Cruz, 52, who was killed on Sept. 21, 2022; and Lawrence Lopez Sr., 54, who was killed on Sept. 27, 2022.
The new charges allege that Brownlee also killed Juan Alexander Vasquez on April 10, 2021; Marvin Harmon on April 16, 2021; Paul Yaw on July 8, 2022; and Salvador Debudey Jr. on Aug. 11, 2022.
Harmon is the only new victim that authorities had not previously connected to Brownlee, local Sacramento Fox affiliate KTXL reported.
The attempted murder charge stems from Natasha LaTour being shot and injured in San Joaquin County, also on April 16, 2021. She is the only known survivor.
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With the exception of Harmon — whose slaying has not yet been detailed by authorities — all of the aforementioned homicides involved unprovoked, ambush-style shootings that happened at night in what the authorities have described as poorly lit areas.
All of the victims were alone when they were gunned down. One of the victims was in a parked car while the others were walking.
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