Join the discussion! For rules visit: https://kymkemp.com/commenting-rules

Comments system how-to: https://wpdiscuz.com/community/postid/10599/

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

23 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Ann
Guest
Ann
12 years ago

He’s apparently a suspect in Matt Coleman’s death, too.

Ann
Guest
Ann
12 years ago

He’s apparently a suspect in Matt Coleman’s death, too.

Elk Ridge
Guest
Elk Ridge
12 years ago

The facts seem to indicate this suspect is a transient and would have trouble traveling to kill two people unless he was hired by others to tend and grow which is possible or he was one of the hired to grow people of which there could be more involved. The ballistic tests will reveal more. The S. American cartels are always trying new things in new places, lately it is dropping off armed growers into rural areas, but this poppy garden is a strange one, it has S. America written all over it. I doubt a mentally deranged transient, which this suspect is described as, could pull it off as it isn’t consistent with the sourcing and knowledge needed. The shocking pics of SWAT on the Skunk train, which hundreds of tourists are on daily, and the manhunt now is what tells all that crime and criminals are completely out of control in Mendo and it is time for a reckoning. The sickening question is what happens next, I hope it is the criminal next time. I am sick of reading of good honest men who didn’t just take from others and game the system being shot down.

Elk Ridge
Guest
Elk Ridge
12 years ago

The facts seem to indicate this suspect is a transient and would have trouble traveling to kill two people unless he was hired by others to tend and grow which is possible or he was one of the hired to grow people of which there could be more involved. The ballistic tests will reveal more. The S. American cartels are always trying new things in new places, lately it is dropping off armed growers into rural areas, but this poppy garden is a strange one, it has S. America written all over it. I doubt a mentally deranged transient, which this suspect is described as, could pull it off as it isn’t consistent with the sourcing and knowledge needed. The shocking pics of SWAT on the Skunk train, which hundreds of tourists are on daily, and the manhunt now is what tells all that crime and criminals are completely out of control in Mendo and it is time for a reckoning. The sickening question is what happens next, I hope it is the criminal next time. I am sick of reading of good honest men who didn’t just take from others and game the system being shot down.

Joe Blow
Guest
12 years ago

You’re sure this guy’s guilty of some crime?

Joe Blow
Guest
12 years ago

You’re sure this guy’s guilty of some crime?

Joe Blow
Guest
12 years ago

“FACTS”? What facts? Opinion-based, sensational fear-mongering is all I’ve been able to read so far.

Joe Blow
Guest
12 years ago

“FACTS”? What facts? Opinion-based, sensational fear-mongering is all I’ve been able to read so far.

skippy
Guest
skippy
12 years ago

Yesterday, reader LKBlog cited the recent Ukiah Daily Journal article here of Bassler’s father weighing in on his son, his past history, mental health issues, and ithat he’s probably schizophrenic. The article was very insightful.

skippy
Guest
skippy
12 years ago

Yesterday, reader LKBlog cited the recent Ukiah Daily Journal article here of Bassler’s father weighing in on his son, his past history, mental health issues, and ithat he’s probably schizophrenic. The article was very insightful.

Ann
Guest
Ann
12 years ago

Also on SF Gate.

Ann
Guest
Ann
12 years ago

Also on SF Gate.

Elk Ridge
Guest
Elk Ridge
12 years ago

The ability to process the poppy into chemical if that was the intent takes more then an average criminal’s knowledge and a lot of other chemicals stockpiled, perhaps a sign of mental illness, perhaps a sign he was hired by others. If the report is true this suspect was dropped off near Westport is also strange as to why would the suspect be trying to guard or grow in two places 25 miles from each other when he is a transient with no ability to travel other then an occasional ride. The sad facts are that his family may have been aware it seems of this guy’s dangerous actions, if he was dropped off then was a rifle seen is a good question, the ballsitic evidence will answer the question if he is the killer of two. The important thing is this dangerous person needs to be quickly captured before another person is gunned down.

Elk Ridge
Guest
Elk Ridge
12 years ago

The ability to process the poppy into chemical if that was the intent takes more then an average criminal’s knowledge and a lot of other chemicals stockpiled, perhaps a sign of mental illness, perhaps a sign he was hired by others. If the report is true this suspect was dropped off near Westport is also strange as to why would the suspect be trying to guard or grow in two places 25 miles from each other when he is a transient with no ability to travel other then an occasional ride. The sad facts are that his family may have been aware it seems of this guy’s dangerous actions, if he was dropped off then was a rifle seen is a good question, the ballsitic evidence will answer the question if he is the killer of two. The important thing is this dangerous person needs to be quickly captured before another person is gunned down.

christine
Guest
christine
12 years ago

What i know about poppies around here is that usually it’s just a little patch (10’x10′ or so) and they are slit with a razor. The milk then dries on the pod, is scraped off and smoked. Maybe eaten, but it causes stomach cramps. Never processed into heroin as that takes skill and knowledge, and a really big patch. Who needs heroin if you have opium? We had a friend 20 years ago that grew a patch. we found him asleep in his garden a couple of times from licking the milk off the slit pod.

christine
Guest
christine
12 years ago

What i know about poppies around here is that usually it’s just a little patch (10’x10′ or so) and they are slit with a razor. The milk then dries on the pod, is scraped off and smoked. Maybe eaten, but it causes stomach cramps. Never processed into heroin as that takes skill and knowledge, and a really big patch. Who needs heroin if you have opium? We had a friend 20 years ago that grew a patch. we found him asleep in his garden a couple of times from licking the milk off the slit pod.

Elk Ridge
Guest
Elk Ridge
12 years ago

That is good info, Christine. The rarity of seeing poppies here is what makes that so strange, we might have just a nut-bird criminal here who has been on a murder spree for years and will be tied to more unsolved cases. He will likely go down in a gunbattle soon with someone or law enf. I read the people in the area where he escaped have all loaded their guns and are on the lookout.

Joe Blow
Guest
12 years ago

Like I said, “Opinion-based, sensational fear-mongering” – Just because it gets printed in a newspaper or on someone’s blog do NOT make “FACTS.” So far the Times-Standard has had three exposes on “marijuana growing-related murder” trying to convince everyone what a great and wonderful man Melo was – another poor soldier lost to these pot-growing bandits.

To believe the disproportionate hype Thadeus Greenson constantly puts out reporting these types of incidents is to question why Melo was there with some unidentified bodyguard in the first place. A person that is the ONLY witness to the supposed incident. AND he got away?
Kym, this is a classic example of the corruption caused within society by decades of lawlessness excused away for personal monetary benefit that I’ve commented to you about before. Jere Melo may have been a great guy, but as you can see from your latest reports alone, the police authorities in this area are quite able and capable of dealing with all kinds of people, threats and situations without some civilian tagging along or taking the lead.

Joe Blow
Guest
12 years ago

Like I said, “Opinion-based, sensational fear-mongering” – Just because it gets printed in a newspaper or on someone’s blog do NOT make “FACTS.” So far the Times-Standard has had three exposes on “marijuana growing-related murder” trying to convince everyone what a great and wonderful man Melo was – another poor soldier lost to these pot-growing bandits.

To believe the disproportionate hype Thadeus Greenson constantly puts out reporting these types of incidents is to question why Melo was there with some unidentified bodyguard in the first place. A person that is the ONLY witness to the supposed incident. AND he got away?
Kym, this is a classic example of the corruption caused within society by decades of lawlessness excused away for personal monetary benefit that I’ve commented to you about before. Jere Melo may have been a great guy, but as you can see from your latest reports alone, the police authorities in this area are quite able and capable of dealing with all kinds of people, threats and situations without some civilian tagging along or taking the lead.

Mendolocal
Guest
12 years ago

It is amazing to see how the media has blown this thing up into “local mayor shot when he stumbles on pot field”. We know now that the shooting had nothing to do with pot growing. Then we hear he was shot in a “field of poppies” and people are going nuts thinking that now we have organized crime growing opium poppies in the woods. People say “you can’t go for a walk in the woods without worrying about getting shot”.

Both these shootings happened on Private land, so no private people would be walking out there anyway. I am a former forester and I am familiar with the locations of both the Melo and Coleman murders. Both are rugged, remote areas where you would be surprised to run into another person.

There are a lot of homeless people who camp along the railroad tracks and Noyo River near Ft. Bragg. Melo was shot only about 1 mile east of Ft. Bragg near the railroad tracks along the Noyo River. Most likely that Melo was investigating a possible homeless camp when he was shot, and not looking for a pot farm.

Melo’s job was to patrol timberlands on the weekends to make sure no one was trespassing, riding motorcycles, 4 wheeling, cutting firewood, or camping on private land. Part of his job would also to report any pot fields he found, which in that area would be small gardens – not big ones like you find farther inland. This close to the coast it is to cool and foggy for large gardens.

This story is really about an angry, dilusional, schitzoprenic, homeless person who also likes guns and is doing drugs – and decides to kill two people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Both Coleman and Melo were out doing their jobs when they were shot. Unlike some serial killers Bassler did not go looking to find people to shoot – he was out in the woods to be alone.

We may never know his motives for killing – was he angry that someone found him in the woods? Did he have an exchange of words which caused him to shoot?. It was probably a coincidence that the two shootings happened with in weeks of one another. If the second man with Melo had not escaped, we still may not know who was responsible for either murder. Who knows if Bassler is responsible for other unsolved murders – like the 2004 Jenner double murder?

PS Aaron Bassler is a 3rd generation born and raised Fort Bragg native, Not a transient!

Mendolocal
Guest
12 years ago

It is amazing to see how the media has blown this thing up into “local mayor shot when he stumbles on pot field”. We know now that the shooting had nothing to do with pot growing. Then we hear he was shot in a “field of poppies” and people are going nuts thinking that now we have organized crime growing opium poppies in the woods. People say “you can’t go for a walk in the woods without worrying about getting shot”.

Both these shootings happened on Private land, so no private people would be walking out there anyway. I am a former forester and I am familiar with the locations of both the Melo and Coleman murders. Both are rugged, remote areas where you would be surprised to run into another person.

There are a lot of homeless people who camp along the railroad tracks and Noyo River near Ft. Bragg. Melo was shot only about 1 mile east of Ft. Bragg near the railroad tracks along the Noyo River. Most likely that Melo was investigating a possible homeless camp when he was shot, and not looking for a pot farm.

Melo’s job was to patrol timberlands on the weekends to make sure no one was trespassing, riding motorcycles, 4 wheeling, cutting firewood, or camping on private land. Part of his job would also to report any pot fields he found, which in that area would be small gardens – not big ones like you find farther inland. This close to the coast it is to cool and foggy for large gardens.

This story is really about an angry, dilusional, schitzoprenic, homeless person who also likes guns and is doing drugs – and decides to kill two people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Both Coleman and Melo were out doing their jobs when they were shot. Unlike some serial killers Bassler did not go looking to find people to shoot – he was out in the woods to be alone.

We may never know his motives for killing – was he angry that someone found him in the woods? Did he have an exchange of words which caused him to shoot?. It was probably a coincidence that the two shootings happened with in weeks of one another. If the second man with Melo had not escaped, we still may not know who was responsible for either murder. Who knows if Bassler is responsible for other unsolved murders – like the 2004 Jenner double murder?

PS Aaron Bassler is a 3rd generation born and raised Fort Bragg native, Not a transient!